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.

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.

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.

Taiwanese authorities said they were investigating a Chinese-owned ship suspected of dragging its anchor over an international subsea telecoms cable.

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.

A Chinese-owned cargo ship suspected of damaging a subsea telecoms cable off Taiwan has stopped transmitting its location on the high seas, Taiwan's coast guard said Tuesday.Taiwan has asked South Korean authorities for assistance in the investigation into the ship after rough seas prevented them boarding the vessel near northern Taiwan,