Taiwanese coast guard captain Juan Chung-ching’s patrol boat moves across the Taiwan Strait, scanning for threats to what Taipei says is the newest target of China’s grey-zone warfare: undersea cables vital to the democratic island’s communications. Juan steered his 100-ton vessel, armed with water cannons and an autocannon, toward TP3, the undersea cable that made international headlines when a Chinese captain was found guilty of deliberately severing it this year. TP3 is one of 24 undersea cables connecting Taiwan to the domestic or global internet. Juan said such missions have become a top priority to combat China’s grey-zone warfare, a tactic meant to drain Taiwan’s resources while falling short of an act of war. On August 28, Reuters became the first media outlet to join one of these patrols. “Their incursions have severely undermined the peace and stability of Taiwanese society,” said Juan, whose boat escorted the Chinese-crewed Hong Tai 58 for investigation hours after TP3 went offline in February. “We are stepping up patrols in this area, monitoring for any vessels engaging in disruptive or destructive activities.”

Full exclusive : Facing new China ‘grey-zone’ threat, Taiwan steps up sea cable patrols.