China after ship captain jailed: Taiwan politicizing cable damage issue

This handout from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command released on October 14, 2024 shows a map of locations of the “Joint Sword-2024B” military drills being conducted by China around Taiwan. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

BEIJING — China’s government on Friday said Taiwan was deliberately politicizing the damage of undersea communication cables as part of a smear campaign, expressing anger after the island jailed a Chinese ship captain for an incident earlier this year.

A Taiwanese court on Thursday sentenced the captain of the Togo-flagged ship to three years in jail after finding him guilty of intentionally damaging undersea cables off the island in February, in an incident that alarmed Taiwan officials.

In a statement, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said that damage to maritime cables were “common accidents”, saying Taiwan was hyping up the issue for political purposes.

READ: Taiwan jails Chinese ship captain for damaging undersea cables

“The aim is to attack and smear the mainland, to stir up confrontation and antagonism across the Taiwan Strait,” it said.

“We express firm opposition to the Democratic Progressive Party authorities’ manipulation of the legal system to pressure the mainland ship’s captain, and demand they end the political manipulation of accidents,” the office added, referring to Taiwan’s ruling party.

READ: Taiwan says detains Chinese-crewed ship after subsea cable cut

The captain’s legal rights should be guaranteed, it added.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has reported five cases of sea cable malfunctions this year, compared with three each in 2024 and 2023, according to its digital ministry. /dl