Taiwan charges Chinese ship captain with sabotaging undersea cable
Reuters
Taiwan prosecutors in April 2025 charged a Chinese ship captain with intentionally damaging an undersea cable between Taiwan’s main island and Penghu island, the latest in a series of such incidents that have alarmed officials and increased tensions with China.
Authorities detained the captain of the Togo-registered freighter Hong Tai 58 after the cable operator reported the damage, apparently caused by an anchor. Seven crew members also were detained but won’t be charged, prosecutors said.
It’s the first time Taiwan has filed charges related to a damaged undersea cable. Taiwan has reported five cases of sea cable malfunctions in 2025, compared with three each in 2024 and 2023.
The fiber-optic cable allegedly damaged by the Hong Tai 58 in February carries telephone and broadband internet communications, the Focus Taiwan newspaper reported. It is in a government-designated no-anchor zone.
Prosecutors said the Hong Tai 58 had lingered in the area for days, reportedly running a zigzag course around the cable, according to the newspaper. The location of the damaged cable and other undersea cables around Taiwan were on the freighter’s electronic navigational chart, prosecutors said.
The captain proclaimed innocence but refused to provide details of the ship’s owner, authorities said.
The charge of endangering the normal functioning of a submarine cable carries up to seven years in prison.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard and Navy have increased efforts to protect vital undersea cables, including monitoring nearly 100 China-linked ships that are registered to a country other than that of their respective owner, officials said.
Beijing claims the self-governed island as its territory and threatens to annex it by force. Taiwan has condemned China’s gray-zone tactics, which seek to pressure the island without direct confrontation.
