Crucial Taiwan undersea cable severed by old shipwreck — backup microwave communications activated to keep population connected

Taiwan activated backup microwave communications after an undersea cable serving Dongyin Island was cut by a shifted shipwreck on the seabed.

The outage affected the Matsu Islands link between Dongyin and Beigan, forcing about 1,500 residents onto a slower fallback system with some delays.

The incident highlights how reliant Taiwan’s remote islands are on submarine cables for everyday connectivity and resilience.

It also underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure in the Taiwan Strait, where security concerns already run high.