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 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.

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