TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday passed amendments to submarine cable–related laws that impose prison terms of up to seven years and allow the confiscation of vessels for intentionally damaging undersea cables or pipelines.
On Sept. 18, the Cabinet approved amendments to seven laws related to undersea infrastructure, including the Telecommunications Management Act, Electricity Act, Natural Gas Enterprise Act, Water Supply Act, Meteorological Act, Commercial Port Law, and Law of Ships. The revisions align penalties for damaging pipelines with those for damaging submarine cables, allow heavier punishment in severe cases, and require ships to activate their automatic identification systems.
The Legislative Yuan then passed third readings of Article 71-1 of the Electricity Act, Article 55-1 of the Natural Gas Enterprise Act, and Article 97-1 of the Water Supply Act. Under the amendments, theft, destruction, or other illegal acts endangering natural gas facilities or impairing undersea pipelines or power cables carry one to seven years in prison and fines of up to NT$10 million (US$320,000).
Negligent offenses follow existing provisions under the Telecommunications Management Act, with penalties of up to six months in prison, detention, or fines of up to NT$2 million. The law also stipulates that tools, vessels, or equipment used in the crime must be confiscated regardless of ownership to prevent repeat offenses.
Lawmakers passed a resolution attached to the legislation requiring the Ministry of the Interior to publish maps and data on undersea cables and pipelines before the amendments take effect. The measure aims to prevent offenders from claiming ignorance of infrastructure locations, which could complicate the establishment of intent.
The resolution calls on the ministry and relevant agencies to intensify public outreach to avoid violations and assist law enforcement in future investigations.
Breakages of undersea cables have occurred repeatedly, including the February severing of the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 cable, which involved the Togo-flagged Hong Tai operated by a Chinese-linked company. In a second-instance ruling, the Chinese captain was convicted of breaching Article 72 of the Telecommunications Management Act for destroying cable infrastructure and sentenced to three years in prison.
