On February 25, 2025, the Taiwanese authorities intercepted a ship beating Togolese pavilion off their coast. The building had been surprised by cutting an underwater cable just a few kilometers from the island. Interesting detail: the whole crew was made up of sailors… Chinese. According to Forbes magazine, this incident has been the fifth of its kind since the start of the year, strengthening the idea that Beijing is increasingly hostile to Taiwan.
The timing of this intervention also raises questions. A month later, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) titled: “China reveals a powerful underwater cable cable that could upset the world order.” The article claims that this unprecedented technology can cut the thickest and best protected submarine cables, up to 4,000 meters deep, double the operational depth of the main current communication infrastructures. The coincidence between this announcement and the immobilization of the Togolese ship can only eat speculation, even if China denies any participation in this act of maritime vandalism.
The cable cutting technology was announced for the first time in the Chinese Revue Mechanical Engineering on February 24, the day before the interception of the Togolese ship, and a month before the SCMP article. Why such a delay? Diplomatic considerations could explain the silence of the Chinese media, accused since its acquisition by the Alibaba group of serving as a tool of Chinese soft power. Aren’t these enthusiastic statements tinged with propaganda?
Intense Information War
The International Cable Protection Committee, whose members manage more than 98% of global submarine telecommunications cable infrastructure, explains for example that cables located 4,000 meters deep are generally neither armored nor reinforced to the point of requiring such sophisticated cutting technology.
Beijing, for its part, categorically denies these accusations and affirms that these new tools have no military vocation, while recognizing their existence. Excessive media coverage would be explained by the interest that the country to maintain the ambiguity between its civil and military capacities, while passing a clear message to Taiwan and Westerners.
If China does not officially lead operations against underwater cables, it prevents its geopolitical opponents and first of all the United States: if it decides, it can cut these cables and “upset the world orderAt least destabilize him.
According to Jill Goldenziel, professor at the National Defense University’s College of Information and Cyberspace and author of the article in Forbes, maintaining the vagueness on his capacities could be an effective tactic for Beijing in his information war.
Many Chinese technologies, designed for civil purposes, can also fulfill military functions. Forbes already revealed in February 2023 that ships used for car exports were designed to integrate military parameters. Practical to disembark troops and equipment on an island … like Taiwan.
