One big question is whether Elon Musk would provide the satellite support he’s offered other countries.
One big question is whether Elon Musk would provide the satellite support he’s offered other countries.
Taipei, Taiwan — With the threat of a Chinese invasion looming, Taiwan is making diligent preparations for a scenario in which the People’s Liberation Army could try to cut it off from contact with the outside world.
The island democracy is working on a program to set up satellite equipment at 700 different locations on Taiwanese territory, minister of digital affairs Audrey Tang told a group of foreign reporters in Taiwan this week on a government-sponsored trip.
Taiwan’s satellite emergency-support plan also encompasses three overseas locations in undisclosed countries, said Tang, “so that we can ensure that such communication can also involve democratically minded, like-minded partners so that they can also keep the communication flowing.”
Under a missile barrage, and with the undersea cables that enable the island’s communications worldwide potentially targeted by the Chinese military, Taiwan could find itself helpless, cut off from the rest of the world.
But perhaps not if this project succeeds.
“We will still be able to do what people in Ukraine did, which is making sure that international friends concerned about our situation can have a real-time feed of what’s actually going on, which is critical because otherwise there’s an appetite for information,” Tang said, answering a question posed by National Review. “And if we do not provide real-time information, then, of course, disinformation would take that vacancy.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has made skillful use of social media and digital technology to beam his country’s message into national capitals, rallying Ukraine’s allies across the world in the face of Vladimir Putin’s military offensive.
The U.S. satellite provider SpaceX has played no small part in that massive communications success, with founder Elon Musk recently revealing that the company has shipped over 15,000 of its Starlink terminals to Ukraine. That has helped to keep the country connected to the world even as it faces a Russian assault.
Musk has also entertained the idea of shipping Starlink to Iran, where widespread protests are challenging the theocratic dictatorship. Operating terminals in Iran, still controlled by the regime’s security forces, is more complicated than in Ukraine, where Kyiv maintains control of much of the country.
The possibility of even entertaining the use of Starlink in Taiwan, meanwhile, seems to be far off. It’s an open question as to whether Musk would similarly send the equipment to Taiwan, given his seemingly solid working relationship with, and previous praise of, the Chinese government. Another Musk enterprise, Tesla, has a sizeable footprint in China.
Asked by NR if Starlink is on the table, Tang demurred, declining to specify the exact companies Taipei is eyeing.
“We’re not saying that we work with any specific non-geostationary providers,” said Tang, explaining that as long as a company meets Taiwan’s technical requirements, “we’re happy and open to working with them.”
PHOTOS: Taiwan Military Exercises
Tang also indirectly referenced reports that a local Taiwanese provider, Chunghwa Telecom, is eyeing a contract with Starlink, pointing out that while such private efforts are underway, the official government backup satellite program is distinct from those projects.
During military drills that Beijing commenced in August, after House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, Chinese forces fired missiles into five zones in the seas surrounding the island, effectively encircling it. There are fears that the Chinese military could, even short of an invasion, blockade Taiwan. Speaking anonymously to Reuters, a senior Taiwanese official recently said that such a move would constitute an act of war.
Such a blockade, in addition to limiting Taiwan’s contact with the rest of the world, would also bring siege conditions to the island, which imports much of its food supply. In addition, over 90 percent of Taiwan’s energy supply is imported.
“We have reserves for oil and gas that’s sometimes estimated with one week or two weeks,” said Linda Liu, an energy policy analyst at the government-backed Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), during a briefing with reporters this week. She added that boosting “self-reliance” through development of renewable energy is the area in which Taiwan can most exercise control.
Ming-Shih Shen, INDSR’s acting deputy CEO, added that Taiwan has liquid-gas storage for up to 40 days and petroleum reserves for two to three months.
Although China has toned down its military provocations ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s mid-October National Congress, that event is expected to deliver Chairman Xi Jinping a decisive mandate to tighten his grip on power — and follow through on his designs on Taiwan, whatever they may be.
National Review is reporting from Taiwan on a trip organized and sponsored by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.