Taiwan has charged a Chinese ship captain with intentionally damaging undersea cables off the island in February. It is the first time Taiwan has prosecuted anyone over damaging sea cables and it comes after a rise in sea cable malfunctions, which has alarmed the country, the ABC reports.
Prosecutors say the man was captain of the Chinese-crewed Hong Tai 58, registered in Togo, which Taiwanese authorities detained after suspecting the ship had dropped anchor near an undersea cable off south-western Taiwan and damaged it.
The charges were made in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, near to where the cable was damaged.
Prosecutors said they had charged the ship’s Chinese captain, whom they identified only by his family name, Wang, with being responsible for damaging the cable.
Mr Wang has said he is innocent, but refused to provide details of the ship’s owner and “had a bad attitude”, the prosecutors said in a statement.
Seven other Chinese nationals detained at the same time will not be charged and will be transported to China, prosecutors said.
Reuters was not able to determine the ship’s ownership or immediately locate a lawyer representing the captain.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Previously, China has accused Taiwan of “manipulating” possible Chinese involvement in the case, saying it was casting aspersions before the facts were clear.
Taiwan has reported five cases of sea cable malfunctions this year, compared with three each in 2024 and 2023, according to its digital ministry.
