Taiwan Detains a Chinese-Crewed Ship After Undersea Cable Severed

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The Coast Guard said it was investigating how the cable was severed and said it could not rule out the possibility of sabotage.

Two men in bright orange vests and hats look out toward a cargo ship and two other boats on the water.

Feb. 25, 2025Updated 7:05 a.m. ET

Taiwanese authorities said they had detained a cargo ship crewed by Chinese nationals, which investigators believe may have severed an undersea communications cable near the island on Tuesday. It was the latest in a series of murky incidents that have prompted theories that China and Russia may be turning to cable sabotage as a form of harassment at sea.

The cable that was damaged connected Taiwan to the Penghu Islands, which belong to Taiwan and lie about 30 miles west of the main island. Taiwan’s Coast Guard said that it was still investigating the latest incident and had not reached any conclusions about whether the severing was deliberate or accidental.

But Ou Yu-fei, a press officer for the coast guard, said initial clues pointed to the detained ship, a dilapidated cargo carrier that used more than one name, including “Hong Tai 58.” The ship had Chinese funding, the coast guard said in a statement.

“This was the only vessel in the area — that’s our judgment,” Mr. Ou said in a telephone interview, citing radar records of where the cable break occurred. “We’re not ruling out the possibility that it was engaged in an act of sabotage. We go by the evidence. It’s too early to reach conclusions.”