TAIPEI: Taiwan's navy will be on standby to help protect the island's undersea telecoms cables and deal with suspicious vessels, the defence minister said on Thursday (Jan 16), after a Chinese-owned ship was suspected of damaging a cable . China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control. Taipei fears Beijing could sever communication links to the island as part of an attempt to seize or blockade it. A Cameroon-flagged vessel was briefly