00:01On the coast of Taiwan's southern county of Jiayi, a special mission awaits an unusual vessel.
00:09I can say metaphorically that it's like a crab, you know?
00:13Because it's not like a vessel hydrodynamically formed, it's like a rectangular, I mean.
00:19Its mission, to complete an undersea cable connection to Taiwan's outlying Mazu Islands.
00:24It's the first time a Taiwanese company has fully managed such a project,
00:28one considered a matter of national security.
00:40The Mazu cables have been severed more than 20 times in the past five years,
00:44both through natural deterioration and damaged by ships from China.
00:50The most serious incident was in February 2023,
00:53when Chinese ships severed both cables to Mazu, cutting off 13,000 residents for 50 days.
01:00And yet, until now, no Taiwanese company has ever installed a submarine cable.
01:21In December, Taiwan's legislature passed new laws criminalizing deliberate damage to submarine cables,
01:27with penalties of up to seven years in prison.
01:30But some say Taiwan's government could do more.
01:44The new cable is set for completion by June,
01:47as Taiwan works to build the local capacity to lay and repair these vital lifelines moving forward.
01:53Delfine Chun and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus
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