Taiwan's proposed new law would make damaging its undersea cables more expensive.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works .
(Image credit: Getty / Eoneren) The Economic Commission in Taiwan’s legislature just approved the first reading of its ‘Seven Submarine Cable Laws’, which increases the penalty for deliberately damaging the island’s underwater infrastructure. According to Red Hot Cyber , violators will face a prison charge of up to seven years, plus a fine of up to NT$10 million or about US$325,000 at the current exchange rate.
Even those who accidentally damage an undersea cable will still face six months' imprisonment and a NT$2 million fine (about US$65,000). Another provision of the proposed law is that it gives the Taiwanese government the power to confiscate erring vessels, no matter who owns them, to prevent them from being reused in future crimes. This may sound harsh, but given that its biggest threat is just kilometers away, Taiwan is keen on keeping its communications with the rest of the world open.
There have been multiple incidents in the waters around Taiwan where Chinese freighters are suspected of damaging undersea internet cables connecting it to the U.S. It has gotten to the point that Taiwan has started patrolling its undersea cables 24/7 to prevent a repeat of earlier incidents. This has been a recent trend, with undersea cables damaged in Europe and the Middle East as well.
Japan to subsidize undersea cable vessels over 'very serious' national security concerns
Two TSMC employees arrested, face up to 12 years in jail, $3 million fine over alleged attempt to leak 2nm chip development details
'Moscow military spy ship' seen mapping and surveilling NATO undersea cables
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/networking/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/networking/taiwan-increases-penalty-for-damaging-undersea-cables-offenders-face-up-to-7-years-in-prison-and-usd325-000-in-fines#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- Save $40 on 1TB of Switch 2 storage at Costco — Lexar's Play Pro microSD Express card drops to $179.99
- OpenAI and Microsoft sign agreement to restructure OpenAI into a public benefit corporation with Microsoft retaining 27% stake — non-profit 'Open AI Foundation'
- Samsung unleashes high-speed P9 Express microSD Express cards for the Switch 2 at highly competitive prices — 256GB and 512GB available for $54 and $99
- NVIDIA Launches Omniverse DSX Blueprint, Enabling Global AI Infrastructure Ecosystem to Build Gigawatt-Scale AI Factories
- NVIDIA and General Atomics Advance Commercial Fusion Energy
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.