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TAIPEI<\/a>: Taiwan<\/a> is scrambling to secure its communications with the outside world against an attack by China<\/a>, but even in peacetime cannot quickly repair critical undersea internet cables and lacks suitable satellite backups, experts and officials say.
China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, has ramped up military and political efforts to force the democratically governed island to accept its sovereignty.
The Ukraine war has lent new urgency to Taiwan's efforts to bolster its security, especially against Chinese cyber attacks or attempts to sever any of 14 cables that connect it to the global internet.
\"Strategic communications, internally and externally, is what keeps us up at night, particularly in the aftermath of Ukraine,\" said Tzeng Yisuo, an analyst at Taiwan's top military think tank, the Institute for National Defence and Security Research.
Taiwan has zeroed in on low-Earth orbit satellites as a solution, and has launched a two-year trial programme to boost internet services by leaning on international satellite providers.
Taiwan's total satellite bandwidth is about 0.02% of what its undersea cables provide, according to Kenny Huang, chief executive at Taiwan Network Information Center, the island's internet domain manager.
Huang said Taiwan has struggled to attract interest from international satellite companies because of strict regulations on ownership, which limit foreign shares to a maximum of 49%, and a lack of financial sweeteners.
\"There's little incentive for them (foreign companies),\" he said. \"Regulations must be changed.\"
Defence experts say that although Taiwan can draw lessons from Ukraine's use of Starlink, a satellite network developed by Elon Musk<\/a>'s U.S.-based space exploration company SpaceX<\/a>, they worry about relying on a commercial actor with business interests in China.
\"Elon Musk, we are not certain if he cares more about China's market,\" Tzeng said, referring to Tesla<\/a>'s sales in China. \"We won't put all our eggs in one basket.\"
Taiwan does not own any Starlink terminals. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan is also strengthening the resilience of wartime communication<\/a> channels for top commanders, including the president, according to one senior government official and another person familiar with government efforts.
\"We are taking notes from Zelenskiy,\" a senior Taiwan security official said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's strong presence on social media.
Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs said in a statement that it would prioritise Taiwan's offshore islands for the satellite trial programme and would further increase the bandwidth for microwave communications with outlying islands by year-end. The ministry did not comment on sea cables or repairing them.
SECURING UNDERSEA CABLES<\/strong>
Taiwan's vulnerability was thrown into focus last month when the two undersea cables connecting the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, which sit close to the Chinese coast, were cut, disconnecting the 14,000 people who live there from the internet.
Authorities said that their initial findings show a Chinese fishing vessel and a Chinese freighter caused the disruption, but that there was no evidence Beijing deliberately tampered with the cables. China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chunghwa Telecom switched on a backup microwave system that transmits signals from the top of a mountain in Taipei to Matsu, but that only restored about 5% of the bandwidth that the cables had provided.
This month, the government upgraded the system and internet speed significantly improved. But because there are few cable repair ships in the region, residents must wait until late April for internet access to be fully restored.
A senior Taiwan official familiar with security matters said that sea cable vulnerability has long been a national security concern, and that it was \"ridiculous\" so little progress had been made to address the issue. The person declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
\"We can't even fix sea cables on our own,\" the official said.
Lii Wen, who leads the Matsu branch of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, described the February outage as a \"warning\" to Taiwan.
\"Today, it's Matsu's sea cables that broke,\" he said. \"What if one day all 14 of Taiwan's undersea cables connecting us to the outside world break? Will we be adequately prepared?\"
China will probably take aim at Taiwan's sea cables or the cable landing stations before an all-out attack, experts say, a move that would cause panic, paralyse commercial activity, and help Beijing gain control over the international narrative.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan's military has long prepared back-up plans, including a fibre-optic network for communications within Taiwan, satellites, high-frequency radio, and microwave systems.
The impact on civilians would be severe regardless, and authorities are reinforcing Taiwan's four entry points for international sea cables and running more frequent war simulations involving them, Huang said.
\"In a state of emergency, people will want to get information,\" said Chieh Chung, a military researcher at the National Policy Foundation, a Taipei-based think tank. \"If they can't get information, people's panic will spread.\"
Cutting off communications and causing chaos would not be the only military effects of severing the cables, Huang said. Taiwan might find it difficult to calibrate a response to such a move that an aggressor couldn't use to justify an all-out attack.
\"So the first step (for China) - with about 99 percent likelihood - is to cut our sea cables,\" Huang said.
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台北:台湾正在努力确保其与外界通信对抗攻击中国,但即使在和平时期不能迅速修复关键海底网络电缆和缺乏合适的卫星备份、专家和官员说。
中国从未放弃使用武力将其控制下的台湾,也增加了军事和政治努力强迫接受主权民主统治的岛屿。
乌克兰战争已经借给台湾新的紧迫感加强安全的努力,尤其是针对中国网络攻击或试图切断任何14电缆连接到全球互联网。
“战略沟通,内部和外部,让我们在晚上,特别是在乌克兰之后,“Tzeng Yisuo说,台湾的最高军事智库分析师国防与安全研究所。
台湾已将目光锁定在低地球轨道卫星作为解决方案,并启动了一个为期两年的试验项目推动互联网服务,依靠国际卫星电视提供商。
台湾的卫星带宽总量约0.02%的海底电缆提供,根据黄建华,首席执行官在台湾网络信息中心,岛上的互联网域管理器。
黄表示,台湾一直在努力吸引国际卫星公司的兴趣,因为严格的规定所有权,限制外国股票最多49%,和缺乏金融甜味剂。
“有什么动力(外资企业),“他说。“规章制度必须改变。”
国防专家表示,虽然台湾可以借鉴乌克兰使用我们开发的卫星网络Elon Musk的美国的太空探险公司SpaceX公司,他们担心依赖商业演员在中国的商业利益。
“Elon Musk,我们不确定如果他更关心中国的市场,”曾说,指的是特斯拉在中国的销售。“我们不会把所有的鸡蛋放在一个篮子里。”
台湾不拥有任何我们终端。SpaceX公司没有回应记者的置评请求。
台湾也加强战时的韧性沟通渠道高级指挥官,包括总统,据一位高级政府官员和另一个人熟悉政府工作。
从Zelenskiy“我们记笔记,”台湾一名高级安全官员说,他指的是乌克兰总统之上Zelenskiy强劲的出现在社交媒体。
台湾数码事务部在一份声明中表示,它将优先考虑台湾离岛的卫星试验计划,将进一步增加微波通信的带宽在年底前离岛。铁道部没有评论海电缆或修理他们。
保护海底电缆
台湾的漏洞被抛进集中上个月两个海底电缆连接马祖冲上,坐在靠近中国海岸,被切断,切断从互联网上有14000人居住在那里。
当局说,他们的初步调查结果显示一艘中国渔船和一艘中国货轮造成了破坏,但是没有证据表明北京故意篡改电缆。中国台湾事务办公室没有立即回应记者的置评请求。
中华电信开启备份微波系统传送信号从山顶马祖在台北,但这只恢复了5%的电缆提供了带宽。
本月,政府升级系统和网络速度显著提高。但由于很少有电缆修理船只在该地区,居民必须等到4月底上网完全恢复。
台湾高级官员熟悉安全问题表示,海电缆漏洞一直是国家安全问题,这是“荒谬”太少已经取得进展,解决这个问题。不愿透露姓名的人因为此事的敏感性。
“我们甚至不能解决海电缆我们自己,”这位官员说。
Lii温,马祖的分支,执政的民进党形容停机2月台湾的“警告”。
“今天,马祖岛的海底电缆坏了,”他说。“如果有一天我们所有14台湾海底电缆的连接外部世界打破?我们会充分准备?”
中国可能会瞄准台湾的海电缆或电缆着陆站全面攻击之前,专家表示,此举将引起恐慌,瘫痪的商业活动,帮助北京控制国际叙事。
中国台湾事务办公室没有回应记者的置评请求。
台湾军方一直准备备用计划,包括在台湾的光纤网络通信,卫星,高频无线电和微波系统。
对平民的影响将是严重的不管,当局加强台湾的四个国际海洋电缆入口点和运行更频繁的战争模拟涉及他们,黄说。
“在紧急状态,人们想要获取信息,“郄Chung说,军事国家政策基金会研究员,台北。“如果他们不能获取信息,人们的恐慌会蔓延。”
切断通讯,导致混乱将不是唯一的军事影响切断电缆,黄说。台湾可能很难校准响应这一举动侵略者不能用来证明全面攻击。
“所以第一步(中国)-约有99%的可能性是削减我们的海电缆,”黄说。
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