Taiwan’s coast guard detained a cargo ship and its Chinese crew on Tuesday and said it was investigating whether the vessel had deliberately cut an undersea telecoms cable in the latest possible breach of the island’s communication lines.

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 said it was investigating whether the incident was sabotage but said "it cannot be ruled out that it was a gray zone intrusion."

Taiwan detained the Chinese crew of a freighter and launched an inquiry to see if they were conducting sabotage after a key undersea communications cable was severed — a development that risks ratcheting up cross-strait tensions.

The Taiwanese coast guard has detained a Chinese cargo ship and its crew as it investigates the destruction of an undersea communication cable.