‘The Chinese military has conducted research into cable‑cutting technologies,’ said Sen. Jim Risch.
A Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on April 30 issued one of the strongest congressional warnings to date about China’s growing role in suspected undersea cable sabotage, with lawmakers and witnesses urging the United States and its allies to adopt a more assertive deterrence posture in both the Baltic Sea and the Indo‑Pacific.
The hearing, titled “Sabotage in the Baltic Sea: Implications for European Security and Lessons for the Indo‑Pacific,” examined a series of cable and pipeline disruptions in Northern Europe since 2022. While many incidents have been linked to Russian vessels, senators repeatedly emphasized that the Chinese regime is now exhibiting similar patterns of behavior, particularly around Taiwan.
Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R‑Idaho) opened the session by warning that “the Chinese military has conducted research into cable‑cutting technologies,” adding that Taiwan has reported “five incidents of likely sabotage in only the last two years.” He said Beijing, like Moscow, has used commercial vessels to mask hostile activity, calling the trend “not just bad luck.”
Ranking member Jeanne Shaheen (D‑N.H.) underscored that the vulnerabilities seen in the Baltic are “not unique to Europe,” noting that a bipartisan Senate delegation observed similar risks during an April visit to Taiwan.
“Similar vulnerabilities exist in the Indo‑Pacific, including around Taiwan,” she said, adding that attribution remains slow and “intent is hard to prove,” even when cable breaks coincide with suspicious vessel movements.
The Baltic–Indo‑Pacific Mirror
Witnesses drew direct parallels between Baltic incidents and a series of cable cuts around Taiwan’s outlying islands.
Benjamin Schmitt, a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, testified that there have been “several subsea cable cuts around Taiwan that suggest involvement of the People’s Republic of China.” He described field research conducted this month in the Taiwan Strait, including visits to the sites of the 2023 and 2025 Matsu and Penghu cable breaks.
Schmitt said “all of these incidents involved PRC‑linked vessels,” and highlighted Taiwan’s prosecution of the Chinese captain of the bulk carrier HONG TAI 58, who is now serving a three‑year sentence for sabotaging a Penghu telecom cable.
He urged European governments to study Taiwan’s legal model, which allows prosecution based on the “results principle” even when sabotage occurs outside territorial waters.
Former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien said the Baltic Sea has become a “test case” for how the United States responds to hybrid threats from both Russia and China.
“Russian and Chinese ships have been involved in multiple attacks in the Baltic Sea over the last several years, and those countries are learning how and whether the U.S. will answer,” he said.
The Indo‑Pacific, he added, faces similar risks as Chinese commercial, research, and maritime militia vessels operate near critical infrastructure.
Committee members echoed that assessment. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) noted that China’s large maritime militia—thousands of ostensibly civilian fishing vessels—provides Beijing with a “perfect screen” for covert operations targeting subsea cables in contested waters.
By Arthur Zhang
