Taiwanese Court Sentences Ship Captain for Cable Damage
A Taiwanese court has handed down a three-year prison sentence to the captain of a Chinese ship for intentionally damaging an undersea communications cable.
The captain, known by the surname Wang, was arrested in February after the submarine cable connecting Taiwan to the Pescadores Islands was severed. By the way, the Pescadores, or Penghu Islands, consist of around 90 small islands situated west of Taiwan’s main island. These islands, managed as part of Taiwan County, are popular for their scenic beauty and attract many tourists.
Submarine cables play a crucial role in Taiwan’s communications with the outside world. There’s been an ongoing campaign by China, dubbed “Quiet Disruption,” aimed at these cables for several years. Not long after the Chinese fishing boat was found anchored nearby, there were multiple reports of cable breaks. It’s worth noting that Chinese vessels sometimes seem to be equipped with anchors that could likely damage these submarine cables.
Interestingly, Beijing has continuously dismissed these incidents as mere coincidence, while Taiwan has generally steered clear of escalating these sabotage claims. Taiwan typically hires repair ships from other nations for such work, making the repairs both costly and complicated, especially since bad weather can significantly hinder efforts.
In February, Taiwan detected a cable break about nine miles off its coast. When the coast guard investigated, they found a Chinese-operated ship, the “Hongtai 58,” near the site. This ship did not respond to attempts by Taiwanese authorities to communicate.
The coast guard managed to intercept the vessel and returned it to a port in Taiwan, where Captain Wang and his eight crew members, all from China, were taken into custody.
At the time, the Taiwan Coast Guard noted that the situation could potentially be linked to China’s so-called “gray zone” tactics.
Recently, a district court in southern Taiwan determined that Wang violated the Telecommunications Control Act by instructing crew members to drop anchors in restricted areas. The anchor, instead of gripping the seabed, drifted and ended up snagging the telecom cable, causing it to break.
Although Wang admitted some negligence, he maintained that there was no intent to sabotage the cable. He asserted that he had dropped the anchor in rough seas without realizing it was near the cable. However, prosecutors presented evidence from the ship’s electronic log, suggesting he was aware of his exact location.
Testimony from the coast guard revealed that the ship was not stationary as it should have been but was dragging the anchor in a zigzag pattern across the seabed.
Prosecutors characterized the “Hongtai” as a suspicious vessel, noting that it had been renamed multiple times and had reported only one cargo in the last year, which seemed unsuitable for passage through the Taiwan Strait.
Wang is reportedly the first Chinese captain charged with deliberately damaging a submarine cable, while the rest of his crew were deported to China without facing any criminal charges.
The court indicated that such cable sabotage has serious implications for government operations and societal functions. The impact, they said, is significant, and the captain’s actions warranted firm condemnation.
Interestingly, the prosecutor, Hsu Shu Han, noted that there was no direct evidence connecting Wang or his crew to Chinese authorities at the time of the cable damage, nor was there any indication they were acting on orders from Beijing.
