The Taichung High Court, China, sentenced ship captain...

The Taichung High Court, China, sentenced ship captain Wang Chung-hsing to death and a crewman Ke Ching-sung to life imprisonment for manslaughter after seven women from the Chinese mainland drowned after being thrown overboard. Wang and Ke carried 13 female illegal immigrants from mainland China to Taiwan in August 2003. After being detected by the Taiwan Coast Guard, Wang and Ke threw the women into the sea off the coast of Miaoli in western Taiwan in order to lighten the shipload and avoid being apprehended. Seven of the women drowned as a result. Judges at the court said that the heavy penalties were given because Wang and Ke did not provide any life-support equipment for the women after throwing them into the sea. The two did not try to save the women, even after hearing cries for help, the judges said.