France, which is a NATO member, and China have sent their aircraft carriers to the hotly contested South China Sea earlier this week, where territorial disputes remain unsolved. The Chinese Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.

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."

The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been deployed for a five-month Indo-Pacific mission since last November.

Citing unnamed U.S. officials, Bloomberg reported that Moscow and Washington were discussing economic cooperation in the far north, which could "drive a wedge" between Russia and its key trading ally, China. It could also be part of a detente between the U.S. and Russia sought by President Donald Trump.

Moscow and Beijing, seeking to disrupt and intimidate the West, have intensified their attacks on undersea data cables, forcing the United States and its partners to protect critical connections.

China and Russia “cannot be moved away” from one another, Chinese leader Xi Jinping told his counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday, in their first phone call since US President Donald Trump upended American foreign policy with a sweeping pivot toward Moscow as he pushes for peace in Ukraine.

China enjoys a close relationship with Russia. Weeks prior to Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the two reaffirmed the “no limits” partnership first mentioned by Beijing in 2021. Nato considers China a “decisive enabler” of the Kremlin’s war effort, with Beijing providing critical support to Moscow’s defence industrial base.

China's President Xi Jinping affirmed his "no limits" partnership in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, China's state media reported, on the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia said the talks had been useful, but hardened its demands, notably insisting it would not tolerate the NATO alliance granting membership to Ukraine. Sign up here. Joe Cash reports on China’s economic affairs, covering domestic fiscal and monetary ...

We live in an era of multipolarity, where American hegemony is contested, and the assumptions that underpinned NATO’s longevity are eroding.

Ivo Daalder, President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, tells CNBC-TV18 that NATO, which turned 75 years old last July, may not make it to 76 in its current form. Daalder is confident, however,