A Chinese ship captain has been sentenced to three years in prison in Taiwan for intentionally damaging a vital undersea telecommunications cable connecting the main island of Taiwan to the Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait.
The Tainan District Court issued the verdict on June 12, marking the first time Taiwan has convicted a seafarer in a case involving undersea cable sabotage.
Captain Wang was in charge of Hong Tai 58, a Togolese-registered cargo vessel. In February 2025, the ship was found anchored off Taiwan’s southern coast for several days.
Taiwan’s coast guard gave multiple warnings instructing the vessel to leave the restricted area. Shortly after the vessel sailed away in the early hours of February 25, one of the domestic cables was found severed.
Authorities later confirmed that the ship had damaged Chunghwa Telecom’s No. 3 cable, which links Taiwan to the outlying Penghu islands. Taiwan’s coast guard quickly intercepted and escorted Hong
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