Prosecutors yesterday for the first time charged a Chinese ship captain with intentionally damaging undersea cables off Taiwan in February, after a rise in sea cable malfunctions alarmed officials amid tensions with China.
The man was the captain of the Chinese-crewed Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號), registered in Togo, which authorities seized after suspecting the ship had dropped anchor near an undersea cable off southwestern Taiwan and damaged it, prosecutors said.
The captain, identified only by his family name, Wang (王), was charged with contravening the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法) for allegedly damaging the cable, the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Photo: screen grab from Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling’s Facebook page
Authorities boarded the Hong Tai and detained its seven Chinese crew on Feb. 25 after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) received a report from Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) that its Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 submarine fiber optic cable had been severed.
The Hong Tai had been lingering in the area where the cable was since Feb. 22, the CGA said.
Prosecutors said that during that period, Wang ordered his men to drop anchor 5 nautical miles (9.26km) west of Tainan’s Beimen District (北門) and sail in a zigzag around the No. 3 cable in an apparent attempt at sabotage.
The boat’s electronic navigational chart clearly indicated the locations of various undersea cables in waters around Taiwan, including the No. 3 cable, prosecutors said.
That submarine cable, used for telephone and broadband communications, is in a government-designated zone where vessels are prohibited from anchoring, they added.
Wang has since been held incommunicado, while the crew members are being kept at a detention center and are awaiting deportation. They were not charged due to a lack of evidence.
Wang continued to deny any wrongdoing and refused to reveal the identity of the shipowner, who likely instructed him to carry out the act, prosecutors said, adding that it was Taiwan’s first prosecution over damaging sea cables.
Under Article 72 of the telecommunications law, people who are caught endangering the normal functioning of a submarine cable are subject to imprisonment of at least one year, but no more than seven years, and may also be fined up to NT$10 million (US$305,764).The case is expected to be heard by the Tainan District Court.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Beijing has previously accused Taiwan of “manipulating” possible Chinese involvement in the case, saying it was casting aspersions before the facts were clear.
The cable damage came on top of China’s military activities around Taiwan, including war games, the latest of which Beijing held last week.
Taiwan has reported five cases of sea cable malfunctions this year, compared with three last year and the year prior, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said.
The CGA has in recent months stepped up efforts to protect sea cables, including monitoring a “blacklist” of close to 100 China-linked ships near Taiwan registered to a country other than that of its owner, officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Taiwan in January said it suspected a China-linked ship of damaging an undersea cable off its northern coast; the ship owner denied the accusations.
Taiwan has repeatedly complained about “gray zone” Chinese activities around the nation, designed to pressure it without direct confrontation, such as through balloon overflights and sand dredging.
Taipei was alarmed after another Chinese-linked ship was suspected of damaging a different cable this year, prompting the navy and other agencies to step up efforts to protect the undersea communication links, which are vital to the nation’s connection to the rest of the world.
Taipei has pointed to similarities between what it has experienced and damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
ACTION PLAN: Taiwan would expand procurement from the US and encourage more companies to invest in the US to deepen bilateral cooperation, Lai said The government would not impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation against US levies, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he announced five strategies to address the issue, including pledging to increase Taiwanese companies’ investments in the US. Lai has in the past few days met with administrative and national security officials, as well as representatives from various industries, to explore countermeasures after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports. In a video released yesterday evening, Lai said that Taiwan would not retaliate against the US with higher tariffs and Taiwanese companies’ commitments to
Intelligence agents have recorded 510,000 instances of “controversial information” being spread online by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so far this year, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report yesterday, as it warned of artificial intelligence (AI) being employed to generate destabilizing misinformation. The bureau submitted a written report to the Legislative Yuan in preparation for National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee today. The CCP has been using cognitive warfare to divide Taiwanese society by commenting on controversial issues such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) investments in the
HELPING HAND: The steering committee of the National Stabilization Fund is expected to hold a meeting to discuss how and when to utilize the fund to help buffer the sell-off The TAIEX plunged 2,065.87 points, or 9.7 percent, to close at 19,232.35 yesterday, the highest single-day percentage loss on record, as investors braced for US President Donald Trump’s tariffs after an extended holiday weekend. Amid the pessimistic atmosphere, 945 listed companies led by large-cap stocks — including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Largan Precision Co (大立光) — fell by the daily maximum of 10 percent at the close, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The number of listed companies ending limit-down set a new record, the exchange said. The TAIEX plunged by daily maxiumu in just
‘COMPREHENSIVE PLAN’: Lin Chia-lung said that the government was ready to talk about a variety of issues, including investment in and purchases from the US The National Stabilization Fund (NSF) yesterday announced that it would step in to staunch stock market losses for the ninth time in the nation’s history. An NSF board meeting, originally scheduled for Monday next week, was moved to yesterday after stocks plummeted in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 32 percent tariffs on Taiwan on Wednesday last week. Board members voted to support the stock market with the NT$500 billion (US$15.15 billion) fund, with injections of funds to begin as soon as today. The NSF in 2000 injected NT$120 billion to stabilize stocks, the most ever. The lowest amount it
RSS