00:00In late April, one of Taiwan's undersea communication cables was severed,
00:06one that affected connection to tiny Dongyan Island, Taiwan's northernmost territory.
00:11Taiwan's Digital Affairs Ministry said a preliminary assessment indicated the break
00:16was due to unfavorable sea conditions, which moved a shipwreck resulting in the damage.
00:22It's just the latest of Taiwan's undersea cables to be damaged.
00:26These cables connect outlying islands to Taiwan proper and Taiwan to the rest of the world.
00:33While Taiwan's government says it believes this latest case was a natural accident,
00:37Taiwan has accused China in the past of trying to deliberately sabotage its cables.
00:43A Chinese cargo ship captain was sentenced to prison for doing so.
00:47It's become a national security concern, with Taipei warning cable sabotage could be part of
00:53China's pressure tactics, as it ultimately seeks to take control of Taiwan.
00:58Recently, at least one American lawmaker has spoken up, too.
01:03China's military has conducted research into cable cutting technologies,
01:07and Taiwan has reported five incidents of likely sabotage in only the last two years.
01:13That's not just bad luck.
01:15He made the comment at a hearing on undersea cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea,
01:20calling for an international effort to prevent these kinds of attacks and mitigate their impact.
01:26Analysts at the hearing said this needs to be part of Taiwan's defense capabilities.
01:30I think that it needs to be part of the military's doctrine in Taiwan that cable repair,
01:34rapid cable repair under fire is important as well.
01:38Taiwan is ramping up measures to protect its undersea cables,
01:41including speeding up repairs and increasing penalties for damaging them.
01:46But it's clear these cables remain a vulnerability that needs to be closely guarded.
01:51Alex Chen and Cadence Caranta for Taiwan Plus.
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