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.

A Chinese cargo ship damaged Taiwan's undersea cable, prompting investigations into national security threats and accountability.

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,

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.