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.

A Taiwanese coast guard official said it had asked South Korea, where the Shunxing39 is heading, for help as Taipei has been unable to question the captain of the ship.

A coast guard ship carried out an external inspection of the vessel on Friday, but officials were unable to board it because of poor weather.

“This is another case of a very worrying global trend of sabotage against subsea cables,” a senior Taiwanese national security official told the Financial Times.

The ship is due to arrive in the port of Busan, South Korea, in the coming days.

Another Chinese vessel, the Yi Peng 3, was accused of similar tactics in the Baltic in November.

Investigators believe the Chinese-registered bulk carrier deliberately severed two key cables by dragging its anchor along the seabed for more than 100 miles in a “sabotage” orchestrated by Russia.

Repeated incidents have caused concern among Western nations that Russia, with the help of China, is engaging in what the White House described as “hybrid warfare”, an accusation that the Kremlin denies.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.