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.

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.

When a Taiwanese telecoms company detected that an international undersea cable was damaged earlier this month, it worked to divert internet traffic from the broken line to keep customers on the island connected.

The damage to an undersea internet cable has raised Taiwan's concerns about possible "gray area" operations by China. The Taiwanese Coast Guard suspects a Chinese ship may have been involved. Taiwanese telecommunications company Chunghwa Telecom reported damage to an international undersea internet cable,

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.