What happened

The Taiwan–Matsu No. 2 cable was severed on 2 February and the No. 3 cable on 8 February, leaving the Matsu Islands without their two normal submarine links to Taiwan. Taiwan's National Communications Commission associated the first break with a Chinese fishing vessel and the second with a cargo ship, while backup microwave links provided constrained connectivity to roughly 14,000 residents. A repair vessel restored normal communications by the end of March. Authorities did not establish deliberate damage or Chinese government direction, so this is recorded as vessel-caused cable damage with hybrid-warfare relevance, not as a confirmed state sabotage operation.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.