Latest news with #Hongtai
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Taiwan president did not order attack on area frequented by Chinese ships
"The government has taken a tough stance! The national army defends Taiwan's sovereignty, preventing anyone from invading our waters and casually cutting our undersea cables," reads the traditional Chinese caption of an image shared on Facebook on March 9, 2025. The image, which shows Lai delivering a speech, is superimposed with text that reads, "Chinese ships frequently cut Taiwan's undersea cables. Lai Ching-te's government now orders the national army to shoot at the area where Chinese ships linger". The same image also circulated in posts on X, Threads and YouTube. The claim spread after Taiwan's coast guard detained the Togolese-registered ship Hongtai and its Chinese captain for severing an undersea telecoms cable serving the Penghu island group in the sensitive Taiwan Strait (archived link). The coast guard said the Hongtai was among 52 "suspicious" Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience from Mongolia, Cameroon, Tanzania, Togo and Sierra Leone highlighted for close monitoring. Vessels suspected of loitering or anchoring near subsea cables will be warned by radio to leave the area, and boarding inspections will be conducted when needed. Taipei fears Beijing -- which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control -- could sever its communication links as part of an attempt to seize or blockade the island (archived link). While Taiwan's defence ministry issued notice of a planned drill to the southeast of the Penghu island group on March 24, and warned fisherman to avoid the area for their own safety, the ministry told the state-run Central News Agency (CNA) that "no live-free shooting will be carried out in the sea and air exercise area" (archived here and here). A keyword search on the website of the Taiwan president's office also found no order to open fire in the area where the Chinese ships had reportedly lingered (archived link). A reverse image search on Google found the photo of Lai used in the false posts predates the detention of the Hongtai, and has circulated in CNA reports since March 2023 (archived link). CNA told AFP in a March 20 email that the image is one of the agency's archived photos (archived link). Taken on March 15, 2023, its caption says it shows Lai after he completed his registration for the presidential primary election. AFP has fact-checked other misinformation about Taiwan here.
AFP
24-03-2025
- Politics
- AFP
Taiwan president did not order attack on area frequented by Chinese ships
"The government has taken a tough stance! The national army defends Taiwan's sovereignty, preventing anyone from invading our waters and casually cutting our undersea cables," reads the traditional Chinese caption of an image shared on on March 9, 2025. The image, which shows Lai delivering a speech, is superimposed with text that reads, "Chinese ships frequently cut Taiwan's undersea cables. Lai Ching-te's government now orders the national army to shoot at the area where Chinese ships linger". Image Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured on March 20, 2025 The same image also circulated in posts on X, Threads and YouTube. The claim spread after Taiwan's coast guard detained the Togolese-registered ship Hongtai and its Chinese captain for severing an undersea telecoms cable serving the Penghu island group in the sensitive Taiwan Strait (archived link). The coast guard said the Hongtai was among 52 "suspicious" Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience from Mongolia, Cameroon, Tanzania, Togo and Sierra Leone highlighted for close monitoring. Vessels suspected of loitering or anchoring near subsea cables will be warned by radio to leave the area, and boarding inspections will be conducted when needed. Taipei fears Beijing -- which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control -- could sever its communication links as part of an attempt to seize or blockade the island (archived link). While Taiwan's defence ministry issued notice of a planned drill to the southeast of the Penghu island group on March 24, and warned fisherman to avoid the area for their own safety, the ministry told the state-run Central News Agency (CNA) that "no live-free shooting will be carried out in the sea and air exercise area" (archived here and here). A keyword search on website of the Taiwan president's office also found no order to open fire in the area where the Chinese ships had reportedly lingered (archived link). A reverse image search on Google found the photo of Lai used in the false posts predates the detention of the Hongtai, and has circulated in CNA reports since March 2023 (archived link). CNA told AFP in a March 20 email that the image is one of the agency's archived (archived link). Taken on March 15, . Image Screenshot of the image used in the false post (left) and the CNA photo taken in March 2023 (right) has fact-checked other misinformation about Taiwan here.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Taiwan Catches Chinese-Crewed Ship Allegedly Damaging Undersea Cable
PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing. Taiwan has detained a Chinese-crewed ship over suspicions it deliberately damaged an undersea cable to the island. On Tuesday, Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration reported intercepting the 'Hongtai 168' while investigating a disruption involving an undersea fiber cable for a local mobile carrier, Chunghwa Telecom. The report suggests Taiwan authorities caught the Hongtai in the act of damaging the undersea cable. Taiwan's coast guard noted it had already deployed a patrol boat to monitor the ship at 2:30 a.m. local time. The boat then detected Hongtai dropping its anchor. At 3:03 a.m., Chunghwa Telecom began noticing problems with the undersea cable. 'Upon detecting that the vessel had dropped anchor and remained stationary, authorities immediately issued a broadcast order for it to leave and maintained full surveillance,' Taiwan's coast guard added. After receiving the outage report from Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwanese authorities then seized the ship and escorted it to Anping Port in Tainan City. 'The case is being handled at a national security level,' the coast guard added. Taiwan has become increasingly concerned about suspected efforts from China to disrupt internet communications to the island. Last month, a separate Chinese vessel was suspected of damaging another cable to Taiwan. These so-called 'gray zone' operations occur when China has long sought to retake Taiwan and undermine the island's democratically elected government. In this case, the Hongtai 168 flew the flag from the African country Togo. However, Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration says the ship was crewed by eight Chinese nationals. 'The Coast Guard emphasized that the cause of the submarine cable break—whether it was intentional sabotage or a simple accident—remains under investigation,' it said. 'Authorities are not ruling out the possibility that this incident is part of China's gray-zone interference operations.' Meanwhile, Chunghwa Telecom reports it's been re-routing communication through a backup cable. "The voice, mobile, Internet, and various communication services of Taiwan and Penghu users were not affected," it said.
Washington Post
25-02-2025
- Washington Post
Taiwan is investigating a Chinese-crewed ship believed to have severed an undersea cable
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese authorities are investigating a Chinese-crewed ship suspected of severing an undersea communications cable in the latest such incident adding to tensions between Taipei and Beijing. Taiwan's coast guard intercepted the Togolese-flagged cargo ship Hongtai in waters between its main island's west coast and the outlying Penghu Islands early Tuesday, according to a statement by the coast guard.
Voice of America
25-02-2025
- Voice of America
Taiwan investigating Chinese-crewed ship believed to have severed an undersea cable
Taiwanese authorities are investigating a Chinese-crewed ship suspected of severing an undersea communications cable in the latest such incident adding to tensions between Taipei and Beijing. Taiwan's coast guard intercepted the Togolese-flagged cargo ship Hongtai in waters between its main island's west coast and the outlying Penghu Islands early Tuesday, according to a statement by the coast guard. The coast guard had earlier been notified by telecommunications provider Chunghwa Telecom that one of its undersea cables had been severed 6 nautical miles (11 kilometers) northwest of Jiangjun Fishing Harbor. The Hongtai had been anchored in that same area since Saturday evening, the coast guard said. From Saturday until early Tuesday, authorities in the nearby Anping Port in Tainan had sent signals to the vessel seven times but had received no response. After the Chunghwa Telecom cable damage report, the coast guard approached the ship, which had begun to sail northwestward, and escorted it to Anping Port. Taiwanese authorities said the ship's entire eight-person crew were Chinese nationals and the case was being handled "in accordance with national security-level principles." "The cause of the underwater cable break, whether it was due to intentional sabotage or simply an accident, is still pending further investigation for clarification," the coast guard said. "The possibility of this being part of a gray-zone incursion by China cannot be ruled out," it added. Communications on the Penghu Islands were not disrupted because Chunghwa Telecom had successfully activated a backup cable, the coast guard said. This is the latest in a series of incidents in recent years in which undersea Taiwanese cables have been damaged — with Taipei in some instances blaming China. Earlier this year, a Chinese cargo ship was suspected of severing a link northeast of the island. In February 2023, two undersea cables serving Taiwan's Matsu Islands were severed, disrupting communications for weeks. Taipei fears China might damage its underwater communications cables as part of attempts to blockade or seize the island, which Beijing claims as its own. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during a regular press briefing on Tuesday that he was not aware of the issue and it did not pertain to diplomacy.
