DPP, LDP lawmakers discuss Taiwan-Japan undersea cable security

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文), a lawmaker from Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said Wednesday that lawmakers from his party and Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) explored ways to cooperate on undersea cable security during talks earlier in the day.

At a news conference at the DPP's headquarters in Taipei, Kuo said the two sides discussed maintenance of undersea cables, which are laid on the ocean floor and carry either telecommunications data or high-voltage electricity, including the possibility of establishing a new information-sharing mechanism.

He said both sides also discussed raising the issue at the annual meeting between officials from Taipei and Tokyo on maritime affairs, noting that the bilateral dialogue had so far focused mainly on fisheries, coast guard and conservation cooperation.

Kuo added that in safeguarding undersea cables, Taiwan would need assistance from Japan because it has more advanced technology and expertise.

His remarks came a day after three of the 14 international undersea cables connecting Taiwan were reported to have been severed.

On Monday, Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs said that while the cause of the damage was still under investigation, it did not rule out man-made incidents.

In addition to undersea cables, four lawmakers from the DPP and the LDP also discussed further cooperation on security, coast guard operations, and disaster prevention, among other issues.

First held in 2021, the meeting between DPP and LDP lawmakers aims to facilitate policy discussions and cooperation between the ruling parties, serving as a channel of communication since Taiwan and Japan do not have formal diplomatic relations.

This year's meeting was expanded to include four participants from each side, instead of just two in past sessions.

Apart from Kuo, DPP lawmakers Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) and Wang Cheng-hsu (王正旭) took part in the discussions.

Also attending the meeting were the LDP's Tsuyoshi Hoshino, Kazuchika Iwata, Takashi Yamashita, and Eikei Suzuki, all members of Japan's House of Representatives.