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.

HONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) - The Chinese director of a firm whose vessel Taiwan suspects of having damaged an undersea communications cable said on Wednesday there was no evidence the ship was involved, an incident that has alarmed the government in Taipei.

Taiwan and China traded barbs over what the government in Taipei suspects was a Chinese-linked ship's damage to an undersea communications cable off the island's coast, an incident that has raised alarm bells on the island.

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

The damage to an undersea internet cable has heightened Taiwan's concerns about possible "grey area" operations by China. The Taiwanese Coast Guard suspects that a Chinese vessel may have been involved in the incident.

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.

On Wednesday, China's Taiwan Affairs Office dismissed the accusations, claiming undersea cable damage is part of common maritime accidents. It claimed Taiwan was making baseless accusations against China and exaggerating “so-called grey zone threats.”

A Taiwanese freighter is accused of deliberately dragging its anchor to cut an internet cable directly linking Taiwan to the U.S. East Coast.

By bno - Taipei Bureau Taiwan’s investigation into damage to an undersea communications cable has sparked heightened tensions, with a Chinese-registered vessel emerging as a key figure in the case. The incident,