Taiwan ramps up backup satellite network plans in island defence strategy – South China Morning Post Feedzy

Taiwan is developing a backup satellite network to secure its communications with the outside world in the event of a cross-strait conflict.

Analysts have said the project – which initially aims to set up 773 satellite internet hotspots and backhauls by the end of next year – is vital, as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would most likely want to paralyse the island’s operations by destroying its communications network in the event of an attack.

Under the NT$540 million (US$16.7 million) project, the government-funded Telecom Technology Centre (TTC), is required to set up 11 non-geostationary orbit satellite hotspots and five links for cellular satellite backhauls around Taiwan by the end of this year, with more to come next year, according to the island’s digital ministry.

Non-geostationary orbit satellites move in relation to the Earth’s surface, enabling better coverage for mobile satellite services and remote areas.

Meanwhile, satellite backhauls help improve cellular services in areas that are highly difficult, if not impossible, to reach using conventional means, such as cable or microwave.

As part of the project, TTC will install and test 21 hotspots and nine backhaul links in Taiwan as well as one satellite link site overseas by the end of March next year. Altogether, it is set to establish 700 hotspots across Taiwan and 70 backhaul links in remote areas and outlying islets, plus three link sites abroad by the end of 2024, according to the ministry officials.

It would help ensure the government and the public could conduct video conferences, internet phone calls, live-streaming and other types of communications if normal services were cut off in natural disasters or wars, the officials said.

“The project … was inspired by the effective uses of non-geostationary orbit satellites as backup communications networks during the Tonga kingdom’s volcanic eruptions and the Ukraine war in 2022,” Jay Chang Teng-chieh, a spokesman for the ministry’s digital strategy department, said on Wednesday.

The technology, which has often been used in natural disasters, has played an important role since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. SpaceX’s Starlink provided free internet services to keep Kyiv connected after the destruction of its communications systems.

“[The project will] allow the government commanding system to maintain essential and secure communications to pacify the public at home and to seek help from international society during extreme circumstances,” Chang said.

Tsai Ming-yen, director of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, acknowledged in a legislature meeting on Wednesday that one of the catalysts for developing the backup network was the severing in February of two undersea cables linking Taiwan with the Matsu defence outpost.

“The cutting of the cables created communications problems in the area,” Tsai said, adding the island had to use microwave facilities to maintain basic communications in Matsu for several months.

The damage to the cables was reportedly caused by two mainland fishing vessels operating in the area.

Tsai said the satellite backup system was needed to strengthen the resilience of the island’s communications.

“The digital ministry will start testing the low-orbit satellite signal receivers at the end of this year,” he said.

According to the digital ministry, some of the receivers will be fixed, while others will be mobile, and they will be configured to receive communications from multiple constellations of satellites in low and medium orbits.

The officials said that so far, Taiwan had signed up two European firms – Britain’s OneWeb and Luxembourg’s SES – to help with the project.

PLA’s Shandong aircraft carrier sails off south Taiwan in ‘show of force’

Digital Affairs Minister Audrey Tang said in Taipei on August 24 that her ministry also planned to install a backhaul link on Taiping Island in the South China Sea as a backup should communications be cut off or disrupted.

The disputed Spratly Islands archipelago is claimed in part or wholly by Beijing, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Taiping, the largest islet in the chain, has long been reported as a potential target of military attack by the PLA.

Beijing, which considers Taiwan its territory to be brought back under its control, by force, if necessary, has intensified its military operations around Taiwan since then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August last year. Beijing saw that trip as a serious violation of its sovereignty and a breach of Washington’s one-China policy.

Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but are opposed to a unilateral change of the cross-strait status quo by force.

Tang said her ministry also planned to launch a cross-border core information backup programme in the next four years so that in times of war or other emergencies, relevant government units could retrieve their data.

“Advanced encrypted technology would be used to protect the data which would be divided into many small parts and stored in different countries,” she said, adding this was to ensure that no one could decrypt the data to its original form.

Meanwhile, the ministry was also planning a four-year project to upgrade local telecommunications with the “disaster roaming” feature.

The NT$6 billion project, to begin next year, would enable users to access other providers’ operational mobile networks if their contracted services were cut off during natural disasters or wars, according to the ministry’s digital strategy department.

Sheu Jyh-shyang, an analyst at the Institute for National Defence and Security Research, a government-funded think tank in Taipei, said destroying Taiwan’s terrestrial facilities and cutting off its communications to paralyse the island was definitely a tactic the PLA might pursue in a potential conflict.

“With China remaining the biggest threat to Taiwan, it is necessary for us to have an effective backup communication mechanism which can be used not only in times of war but also in natural disasters,” he said.

Zivon Wang, a military analyst at the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, a Taipei think tank, said the island’s government must make the establishment of the backup network its priority in the face of growing threats from the PLA.

“Ukraine was able to carry out its military operations and commands despite the destruction of its regular communication systems because Elon Musk agreed to activate his Starlink service,” Wang said, adding that keeping a communicable network was highly important.

Wang said Taiwan needed to sign up more providers to ensure that it had adequate satellite links to cope with wartime situations.