Throughout 2025, a series of submarine cable damage incidents near Taiwan point to deliberate sabotage, culminating in February when a Chinese-captained vessel was detained and its captain convicted for cutting a cable near Penghu island. Surveillance shows civilian ships behaving suspiciously by disabling tracking and dragging anchors near cables. The frequency of 7-8 incidents per year is unusually high given Taiwan's cable network size. In 2023, two cables near the Matsu Islands were cut causing significant communication disruptions and local distress. Experts view these as deliberate gray-zone attacks by China to weaken Taiwan's critical communications infrastructure, thereby threatening economic activity, defense capabilities, and public trust, supporting Beijing's strategic goal of eventual island reunification by force if necessary.

Throughout 2025, a series of submarine cable damage incidents near Taiwan point to deliberate sabotage, culminating in February when a Chinese-captained vessel was detained and its captain convicted for cutting a cable near Penghu island. Surveillance shows civilian ships behaving suspiciously by disabling tracking and dragging anchors near cables. The frequency of 7-8 incidents per year is unusually high given Taiwan's cable network size. In 2023, two cables near the Matsu Islands were cut causing significant communication disruptions and local distress. Experts view these as deliberate gray-zone attacks by China to weaken Taiwan's critical communications infrastructure, thereby threatening economic activity, defense capabilities, and public trust, supporting Beijing's strategic goal of eventual island reunification by force if necessary.