Taiwan suspects Chinese ships cut off internet to islands

NANGAN, Taiwan (AP) — Over the past month, Chen Yu-lin has had to tell guests at his tourist accommodation that he can’t offer them internet.

Other residents of Matsu, one of Taiwan’s outer islands closest to China, were struggling to pay electricity bills, make medical appointments or receive orders.

To connect to the outside world, Matsu’s 14,000 residents rely on two undersea internet cables that lead to the main island of Taiwan. The National Communications Commission, citing data from the island’s telecommunications service, accused two Chinese ships of cutting the cables.

The Commission said a Chinese fishing vessel is suspected of having severed the first cable of a Chinese vessel about 50 kilometers (31 miles) offshore. Six days later, on February 8, a Chinese freighter cut off the second, according to the agency.

The Taiwanese government did not accuse Beijing of deliberately cutting the cables, and there was no direct evidence that the Chinese ships were responsible.

Islanders were forced to connect to limited internet transmission via radio microwaves, an older technology, as a backup. A text message could take hours to arrive. Calls were dropped and it was impossible to watch videos.

“Many tourists have canceled their reservations because there is no internet. Today, the internet plays a very important role in people’s lives,” said Chen, who lives in Beigan, one of the main islands of the Matsu Archipelago.

As well as disrupting daily life, the seemingly innocuous loss of the cables has huge implications for national security.

Attacking the communications infrastructure was a key part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some experts believe China may have deliberately cut the cables as part of its harassment of the self-governing island, which it considers part of its territory that could be taken by force.

China often sends fighter jets and warships to Taiwan as part of a campaign to intimidate the territory’s democratic government. Concerns about a Chinese invasion and the willingness of the Taiwanese to resist it have increased since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Internet cables have been cut a total of 27 times in the past five years, according to Chunghwa Telecom, although operator data did not specify which country the ships originated from.

The Taiwan Coast Guard chased the fishing boat that cut the first cable on February 2, but the boat returned to Chinese waters, according to a person briefed on the incident and not authorized to comment publicly. Authorities found two Chinese boats in the area where the cables were cut, according to a GPS-like tracking system that shows the boats’ locations.

“We cannot rule out that China destroyed them on purpose,” said Su Tzu-yun, defense expert at the government think tank Institute for National Defense and Security Research. Studies suggest that China and Russia have the technical capacity to do so, he noted.

Chiu Sih-chi, a cafe owner, said it had been difficult to get medical treatment for her young son for a cold without a stable connection, as they had to go to the hospital just to get the appointment.

The owner of a breakfast establishment said she lost thousands of dollars in recent weeks because she was accepting online orders. Customers came to the stand expecting their food to be ready, but she hadn’t even received their messages.

Faced with the difficulties, the inhabitants sought ways to organize themselves. Lin Hsian-wen stayed in Taiwan to manage the family business’s reservation system and relay the information to her husband via text message. Others bought SIM cards from Chinese telemarketers, even though they only worked on the coast of the island closest to the Chinese mainland.

Taiwan’s digital affairs ministry has launched a public tender for orbital satellite operators who can offer the internet as a back-up plan after seeing Russian cyberattacks during the invasion of Ukraine, ministry chief Audrey said. Tang to the Washington Post last fall. . But the plan remains stalled as Taiwanese law requires suppliers to hold at least 51% equity from local investors.

A Digital Department spokesperson referred questions about the replacement plan to the National Communications Commission, which said it would install an undersea cable monitoring service and retain microwave transmission as an alternative .

Many Pacific island countries relied on satellites for a backup connection before switching to cable, and some still do, said Jonathan Brewer, a New Zealand telecommunications consultant who works in Asia and the Pacific.

There is also the issue of cost. Cable repairs are expensive, with an initial estimate of NT$30 million ($1 million) for boat labor alone.

In the meantime, all the locals can do is wait. Ships laying the cables cannot arrive until April 20, as there are a limited number of ships that can do the job.

A month without functional internet also has its advantages. Chen Yu-lin, the owner of the tourist accommodation, feels calmer.

The first week was tough, but it didn’t take long for Chen to get used to it. “From a life perspective, I think it’s a lot more comfortable because you get fewer calls,” he said. Plus, he says, he’s been spending more time with his son, who usually plays video games online.

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Associated Press video reporter Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.