On 15 October 2010 the District Court of Rotterdam sentenced a former director of the Port of Rotterdam to a term of imprisonment of 12 months. According to the Court, the facts qualified as corruption, fraud, forgery of documents and withholding of information from his employer, therefore inducing the Port of Rotterdam to enter into agreements and guarantees for the benefit of a shipbuilding and repair company, RDM. After rumours spread that the Chinese government was considering boycotting the harbour of Rotterdam if RDM shared submarine technology with Taiwan, the guarantees issued by the Port of Rotterdam proved very costly.