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.

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.

The incident raises concern China will try to cut all undersea cables to Taiwan in the event of a military invasion, so Taiwan is racing to develop a satellite-based internet service.

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.

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.

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,