00:01Troubled waters off Taiwan's southern shores.
00:04The country's coast guard patrols for threats to communication infrastructure.
00:08Two dozen undersea cables keep the country online and connected to the world.
00:13But as tensions with China rise, they have become targets of Beijing's grey zone warfare,
00:18strategies that fall short of open conflict but wear down Taiwan's defenses.
00:23Captain Yuan Zhongqing has seen this firsthand.
00:26In February, his crew detained a Chinese captain that sabotaged one of Taiwan's cables.
00:50That captain was later sentenced to three years in prison
00:54for cutting the cable between Taiwan and its outlying Penghu Islands,
00:58severing communication for hours.
01:01But it was not the first such attack on Taiwan's undersea cables.
01:04Experts say they could be one of the first targets should China go on the offensive.
01:09Experts point to Ukraine in 2022.
01:32During the invasion, Russia targeted TV towers and was suspected of sabotaging Ukraine's natural gas pipelines.
01:38They say China is likely to use similar strategies to weaken Taiwan's defenses ahead of larger attacks.
01:45But protecting Taiwan's undersea cables, in addition to its rescue and policing duties,
01:50is stretching the coast guard thin.
01:52Practices such as flags of convenience, where vessels are registered,
01:56crewed or owned by different countries,
01:58also make it difficult to tell friend from foe.
02:01With Taiwan pouring resources into protecting its infrastructure,
02:14China's gray zone tactics are already stretching the coast guard thin.
02:18Even without the cutting of cables, it may be a sign of rougher seas ahead.
02:22Luffy Lee and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.
Comments