The Internet connection is Taiwan's lifeline, but it is quite fragile.Recently, experts from the military, science and technology, academia, and government departments showed in Taipei. It will be very vulnerable to communication interruption once the Chinese mainland is implemented.
In February this year, the incidents of the two submarine cables between Taiwan and Matsu (a series of small islands that belong to Taiwan but extremely close to the coast of mainland China) in mainland China successively made the threats facing Taiwan's digital infrastructure facing the threat of Taiwan.If it is clear.The long -term network interruption caused the residents of the island to be unable to access the Internet, and Matsu, who had a strategic military base, was placed under the attack of the opponent.Google, an American technology giant with a data center on the west coast of Taiwan, also exposed weaknesses due to damage to the cable.
At present, there are 15 underwater communication cables connecting Taiwan to the world.Therefore, the invasion or long -term blockade of mainland China may cut off the connection between Taiwan and the world, and then have a negative impact on the global economy and financial markets.This result may also threaten the security of the United States and regional allies including the United States and Japan.Therefore, the Taiwan government must focus on strengthening communication capabilities to ensure stable and reliable Internet connection.
A potential solution is the service of the mobile satellite Internet system "Starlink" operating using Musk's American Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX).Some people think that Musk (also the owner of Twitter company that has been renamed "X") is the most powerful person on the Internet; others say that he is the most impermanent person.As an important part of its commercial empire, Star Chain provides Internet connections to the world through more than 4,500 low -earth track satellites.
Musk opened a free satellite service for the latter after invading Ukraine in Russia, and donated thousands of star chain terminals to the Kiev government to help them avoid Russia's attack on telecommunications infrastructure.Since then, the Star Chain has become an important tool for the Ukrainian military, enabling it to collect information about the movement of the latest Russian troops and communicate safely with NATO partners.
Although Musk was touted as a hero in the early days of the war, government leaders were increasingly subject to all kinds of practices that rose for a while.Last year, Musk closed the star chain service near the Crimea coast to prevent the Ukraine drone from attacking the Russian ships and sent a message from the then deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov to argueIt is said that Ukraine's "behavior over the fire is easy to cause strategic failures."
Use Musk's Star link to connect to the Internet with the outside world, which may bring problems to Taiwan.First of all, relying on the star chain completely, which means that any system failure or data leakage may be irreversible.Secondly, Musk has clearly said that he is "pro -China", and even suggested that Taiwan a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China similar to Hong Kong.Third, Musk has a large number of commercial interests in mainland China: his Tesla electric vehicle company, the largest manufacturing center of production capacity is located in mainland China, and mainland China is also the world's largest electric vehicle market.
In view of this, no one can guarantee that Musk will not agree to Beijing's request once a military conflict between mainland China and Taiwan.If there is no sovereignty control for its own data (including data flow and data storage), Taiwan's security will face risks.
Taiwan needs to launch 120 satellites
In order to protect yourself, Taiwan, which has been in the world's leading position in the semiconductor supply chain, must develop its own ability in satellite communication and technology.By integrating resources, the Taiwan government can establish and maintain the control of public and private partnerships in order to quickly increase production capacity after the outbreak of the war.The government should also simplify the procurement process, making it easier for startups to cooperate with national defense contractors.
While investing in satellite technology and key communication infrastructure in the Taiwan National Development Fund, the Ministry of National Defense and the Digital Development Department should cooperate with the Taiwan National Space Center to exchange information with partners such as Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia, and establish and establish and establish and establish.Defense shielding system.Taiwan needs to launch 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted backup coverage, but there is not much time left to policy makers, and it must be supported by allies.
The U.S. government should consider allocating some funds from chip and science law and national defense authorization law, and jointly develop satellite communication technology and related semiconductor chips with Taiwan.In addition, as part of the Indo -Pacific strategy, the United States should also lead the establishment of this alliance, set up various working groups to formulate technical standards and arrange high -level exchanges.
The situation in Taiwan is not exactly similar to Ukraine.Ukraine and Russia have a long land boundary, while Taiwan is different. It is separated from the mainland.In addition, more than 90%of Taiwan's energy rely on imports, which means that blocking will quickly lead to economic stagnation and threaten the safety of neighboring countries and even the entire Indo -Pacific region.
The interruption of the Taiwan Internet connection can easily evolve into a global crisis.With the intensive tension on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's security is becoming a common concern of geopolitics.It may be impossible to defeat mainland China, but Zhisheng is definitely possible.Taiwan and allies should invest today to ensure that its connection with the outside world is still stable even at the darkest moment.
The author Xu Yuren was a legislator of Taiwan. He is currently a senior researcher at the Ash Democratic Governance and Innovation Research Center of the Kennedy Government College of Harvard University, Chen Yongkang, a retired navy."
English Original: Keeping Taiwan Online
All rights reserved: Project syndicate, 2023.
