Taiwan blames natural deterioration’ for subsea cable failures

Two ageing subsea telecoms cables serving Taiwan’s Matsu archipelago have stopped functioning, with the outages blamed on “natural deterioration”, Taipei communication officials said on Wednesday.

A domestic cable, carrying data and communications, “disconnected” on January 15 and another on Wednesday morning, the digital affairs ministry and Chunghwa Telecom said.

Back-up microwave communications have been activated to prevent internet disruptions for residents and businesses on the Matsu Islands, located off China, the ministry added.

A third fibre optic cable linking the islands to Taiwan that previously malfunctioned is also still not working.

There is growing concern in Taiwan over the security of its cables after a Chinese-owned cargo ship was suspected of severing one northeast of the island earlier this month.

The latest outages were due to “natural deterioration” of the wires, said Deputy Minister Herming Chiueh.

“We hope to be able to replace the ageing parts of the cables in Taiwan, of our domestic cables, as soon as possible,” Peter Niou, head of the ministry’s resilience construction division, told reporters.

Taiwan has 14 international underwater cables and 10 domestic ones.

In February 2023, two subsea telecoms lines serving Matsu were cut within days of each other, disrupting communications for weeks.

Locals and Taipei officials suspected that Chinese fishing vessels or sand dredgers, which often drop anchor or scrape the seabed in Taiwanese waters, may have been responsible.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.

Taipei fears Beijing could sever communication links to the island as part of an attempt to seize or blockade it.

The island’s defence minister said last week that its navy would be on standby to help protect undersea telecoms cables and deal with suspicious vessels. AFP