In 2023, the outlying Matsu Islands, within view of the Chinese coast, endured patchy internet for months after two undersea internet cables broke. These fiber optic cables that connect Taiwan to the internet suffered about 30 such breaks between 2017 and 2023.

Taiwanese authorities and some analysts say the Chinese vessel, which operates under two different flags, could be carrying out China’s gray zone operations against Taiwan

Taiwan's coast guard has said that it suspects a ship damaged an undersea communications cable over the weekend, but that bad weather prevented its personnel from boarding the vessel to investigate.

Taiwan has accused a Chinese-owned ship of severing a critical data cable off its northern coast on Friday. Officials in Taipei discovered that four cores of an international submarine cable, which transmits data to America’s AT&T, were left ruptured early on Jan 3.

Taiwan has asked South Korea for assistance investigating a Chinese-owned ship suspected of cutting a subsea cable off its northern coast on Friday. Taiwan telecoms operator Chunghwa Telecom and the Taiwan Coast Guard said on Saturday that the cargo vessel Shunxing39 was believed to have caused damage to a communications cable — close to the port of Keelung on Taiwan’s north coast — on the morning of January 3.

Taiwan seeks South Korea's help to investigate a Chinese ship accused of damaging undersea communication cables amid rising tensions.

More evidence of Beijing’s liking for gray zone warfare, or a murky claim with odd African entanglements? Taiwanese authorities have asserted that a China-linked ship entered its waters and damaged a submarine cable.