The captain of Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) was indicted after the ship severed an undersea cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County last month.
The Tainan District Prosecutor’s Office charged the ship’s captain, a Chinese national surnamed Wang (王), for violating the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法), but lacked evidence to prosecute the other crew members, who were deported.
Prosecutors said the case involves national security and resulted in substantial losses to Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信).
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
Wang severed the cable on purpose, prosecutors said, as the ship’s charts indicated he was near the cable.
Wang dropped the ship’s anchor, then navigated the vessel in a z-shape to damage the cable and disrupt communications between Taiwan and Penghu, prosecutors said.
The damage led to service outages in Penghu, posing public safety risks, prosecutors added.
During questioning, Wang denied deliberately damaging the cable and said the ship dropped anchor due to unstable weather, prosecutors said.
However, prosecutors said his testimony was vague and evidence from the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) showed his actions were out of the norm and demonstrated intent to damage the cable.
The other 7 Chinese crew members on board were repatriated in accordance with the law, prosecutors said, due to insufficient evidence.
Wang knew the cable was an important piece of national communications infrastructure and deliberately sought to damage it, prosecutors said.
Preliminary estimates showed Chunghwa Telecom suffered NT$10 million (US$300,000) in losses from Wang’s alleged actions, violating Article 72 of the Telecommunications Management Act, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors requested that the court impose an appropriate sentence.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
RSS