Taiwanese prosecutors have charged a person for the first time with intentionally damaging undersea cables, Reuters news agency reports. The Chinese captain of the Hong Tai 58, a ship registered in the West African country of Togo, was arrested on February 25 on suspicion that the ship had dropped anchor near an undersea cable off southwestern Taiwan and damaged it, according to Al Jazeera. The captain has pleaded not guilty but has also refused to provide information about the ship's owner. He also has a "negative attitude" towards the authorities, prosecutors said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Seven other Chinese nationals who were arrested with the captain will not face prosecution. Instead, they will be transported to China, prosecutors said in the case. Reuters has not been able to determine who owns the ship. Taiwan has recorded five incidents of submarine cable disruptions this year, compared with three in 2024 and three in 2023. Taiwan's coast guard has stepped up efforts to protect submarine cables in the area in recent months.
The authorities have compiled a list of ships they are monitoring. The list includes almost 100 ships registered in a country other than the ship's owner - and therefore suspected of having ties to China. Danish authorities believe the same is true of the so-called Russian shadow fleet, which ships Russian oil to evade Western sanctions.
Taiwan is located east of China and considers itself an independent state with its own currency and political and legal system. China, on the other hand, considers Taiwan part of its territory, although the two sides have had separate governments since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
Taiwan has repeatedly reported activities around the island that authorities say are intended to pressure Taiwan, but without direct confrontation. Examples include balloon flights and sandblasting. Taiwan has compared the incidents in the area to damage to underwater cables in the Baltic Sea. China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
jel /ritzau/
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