Taiwan has accused a Chinese-owned ship of severing a critical data cable off its northern coast on Friday.

Officials in Taipei discovered that four cores of an international submarine cable, which transmits data to America’s AT&T, were left ruptured early on Jan 3.

Tracking data revealed the Shunxing39 cargo vessel had dropped its anchor around the rupture site near the port of Keelung, according to Taiwan’s coast guard.

Chinese-owned vessels have previously been accused of deliberately damaging critical sea cables in the Baltic Sea in October 2023 and November 2024.

The Shunxing39 sails under the flag of Cameroon, but officials in Taiwan have pointed out it is owned by Jie Yang Trading Ltd, which is registered in Hong Kong, and owned by Chinese citizen Guo Wenjie.

Chunghwa Telecom said vital connections were immediately restored after it diverted data towards other subsea cables on Friday morning.

However, fears remain in Taiwan that Beijing could target critical sea infrastructure during any attempt to annex the country, which sits off China’s southeastern coast.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan is Chinese, says it would rather integrate the country through diplomacy, but has not ruled out using force.