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

China's government said on Wednesday that Taiwan was "manipulating" possible Chinese involvement in the latest severing of an undersea communications cable, saying the island was casting aspersions before the facts were clear.

Taiwan's coast guard detained a China-linked cargo ship Tuesday after an undersea cable to the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait was disconnected.