Taiwan said a Chinese vessel had damaged an underwater internet cable off the island's northern coast. This led to a temporary disruption of communication, the Financial Times reports. According to the agency,

More evidence of Beijing’s liking for grey zone warfare, or a murky claim with odd African entanglements? Taiwanese authorities have asserted that a China-linked ship entered its waters and damaged a submarine cable.

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.

Taiwan has asked South Korea for assistance investigating a Chinese-owned ship suspected of cutting a subsea cable off its northern coast on Friday. Taiwan telecoms operator Chunghwa Telecom and the Taiwan Coast Guard said on Saturday that the cargo vessel Shunxing39 was believed to have caused damage to a communications cable — close to the port of Keelung on Taiwan’s north coast — on the morning of January 3.

Some security analysts say it's possible China is to blame for the cutting of an undersea cable off Taiwan's north coast on Friday. The damage did not affect Taiwan, but experts say it could be a sign Beijing is trying to figure out how to isolate the country from the rest of the world.

Taiwan seeks South Korea's help to investigate a Chinese ship accused of damaging undersea communication cables amid rising tensions.