Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has denied accusations that its personnel on Taiping Island in the South China Sea are unable to use Taiwanese cellular networks, and have to rely on roaming services from providers based in China.
At a press conference Thursday, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party played an anonymous voice recording from a person claiming to have been stationed on the island, which is controlled by Taiwan but also claimed by Vietnam, China and the Philippines.
In the recording, the person said that even before being sent to the island, he had been unable to reliably use Line to keep in contact with a friend there.
After being deployed there himself, he found that this was because the island has a weak cell phone signal and “extremely slow” internet service, he said.
As a result, the man said he signed up for a Chunghwa Telecom roaming plan covering China, Hong Kong and Macau, which solved the problem but nevertheless felt “strange” to him as a member of the armed forces.
Yang Pei-hua (楊佩樺), head of the party’s Kaohsiung branch, claimed that “almost all” Coast Guard personnel on the island use Chinese cellular networks, a situation she said is not only “absurd” but also a threat to national security.
In response to the allegations, the Coast Guard said in a statement that Pratas Island and Taiping Island have had 4G service since June 26, 2017.
“All personnel stationed on the islands can use Chunghwa Telecom base stations to call or send messages to their relatives on Taiwan’s main island,” the CGA said, adding that “there are no national security concerns.”
The CGA said, however, that it will “continue to look at ways” to improve connectivity on the islands, together with the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the National Communications Commission and Chunghwa Telecom.
Chunghwa Telecom, meanwhile, said its 3G and 4G services on the two islands are relayed back to Taiwan via inter-satellite links, which have a limited frequency.
The company said it is planning to expand the existing frequency, including through the use of medium and low earth orbit satellites, to continue improving connectivity on Taiwan’s outlying islands.
Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, is the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands), and lies 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung, which administers it as part of the special municipality’s Cijin District.
