All seven crew members aboard the freighter were Chinese nationals, the Taiwan coast guard said. It said the ship was owned by a Hong Kong company called Jie Yang Trading, which according to public records was incorporated in 2020.
Its Chinese-national director, Guo Wenjie, denied that his ship was responsible for the damage, saying “there’s no evidence at all.”
“I spoke to the ship captain and for us it was a normal trip,” he told Reuters.
NBC News was unable to reach Guo.
Taiwan’s suspicion toward Beijing stems in part from a 2023 incident in which the 14,000 people who live on the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, which sit close to the Chinese mainland, were disconnected from the internet after two undersea cables connecting the islands were cut.
At the time, authorities said a Chinese fishing vessel and freighter had damaged the cables, but said there was no evidence that it was deliberate.
The same year, another Chinese ship called NewNew Polar Bear damaged a gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland. It took months for Beijing to admit that its ship was responsible, saying it was an accident.
“What this has done in recent years is expose the vulnerability of these cables that have been out of sight, out of mind,” Parr said.
Analysis included in the Rings of Fire report shows that in the past 100 years there has been a significant increase in the number of "tropical" nights, when temperatures do not drop below 20C (68F). Between 1924 and 1933, only four tropical nights were observed in Paris. In 2014-2023, the city experienced a total of 84 tropical nights – 21 times more.
Mohan says she has "mixed feelings" about the lack of air conditioning in the village. She says she understands organisers' commitment to sustainability but is worried about the impact heat will have on her health and recovery following the triathlon. "Recovery is very important for athletes," she says. "I want to be safe. I don't want to come back injured and I don't want to not have my best performance on the day."
The organisers of the games have said that Paralympic delegations will be provided with one free air-conditioning unit for every three athletes for medical reasons, as some athletes experience thermoregulation problems.
It's difficult to know exactly how polluted Parisian air was in 1924, when air quality monitoring was in its infancy. There are some records dating back to the early 20th Century, such as measurements of suspended dust from industrial processes or measurements of atmospheric electricity. The Eiffel Tower was an ideal structure for taking these measurements and scientists have used these records to infer smoke pollution levels in the French capital in the 1890s.
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