SEOUL, South Korea — The Philippines and Taiwan are set to cooperate on protecting undersea cables from China in a strategic channel, Taipei media reported Thursday.
The Taipei Times noted that the two nations look set to cooperate on and under the surface defense of the Bashi Channel, citing statements by Philippine Deputy Chief of Mission Felipe Carino III at a seminar in Washington on Wednesday.
The Bashi Channel is a strategic waterway between the northern Philippines and southern Taiwan.
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Mr. Carino said undersea cable security is critical, given their centrality to transnational data flow.
“These are very important features that should be protected, so much so that we are exploring deeper cooperation with our friends in Taiwan,” Mr. Carino said, adding that the Philippines would conduct such cooperation “notwithstanding our ‘One China’ policy.”
Both Manila and Taipei are confronting Chinese “gray zone” sub-kinetic operations, ranging from maritime harassment and aerial intimidation to cyberattacks and damage to undersea infrastructure.
The 2022 destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, which carried Russian gas to Europe via the Baltic, thrust seabed warfare into the public gaze. In an ongoing case, German authorities have accused a Ukrainian special forces officer of sabotage.
Chinese vessels in recent years have conducted seabed surveys of East Asian and Australasian waters.
Experts say these surveys provide useful data for submarine deployments, as well as reconnaissance for potential operations to cut seabed cables and take out underwater sensors.
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