Taiwan detained a Chinese-crewed cargo ship registered in Togo on Tuesday after a subsea telecoms cable was severed off the island, the coast guard said.
It is the latest in a series of Taiwanese undersea cable breakages, with previous incidents blamed on natural causes or Chinese ships.
Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom reported the cable between Penghu, a strategic island group in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, and Taiwan was disconnected early Tuesday, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said.
The Togolese-registered ship Hongtai was intercepted in the area and escorted back to Taiwan, the coast guard said.
'National security'
The case was being "handled in accordance with national security-level principles," it added.
"Whether the cause of the undersea cable breakage was intentional sabotage or a simple accident remains to be clarified by further investigation."
Taiwan has 14 international underwater cables and 10 domestic ones.
The ministry ordered Chunghwa Telecom to transfer voice communications and internet services for Penghu to other undersea cables.
➤Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
