The government expects satellite service by British provider OneWeb to cover all of Taiwan by the end of this year, Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said.
The service expansion would provide more options for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to Taiwan, the Central News Agency quoted Tang as saying.
OneWeb services are currently only available in the northern part of Taiwan, said Tang, who made a rare trip to London earlier this week and visited OneWeb, which specializes in LEO satellites.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Digital Affairs
OneWeb, which is backed by the British government, is “very willing” to work with Taiwan to bolster Taiwan’s communication infrastructure, she said.
The government’s disaster response plan calls for the establishment of 700 satellite receivers placed across the country, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said.
Some of the receivers would be fixed and others mobile, and they would have to be configured to receive communications from multiple constellations of satellites in LEO and medium Earth orbit.
However, online commenters yesterday raised concerns, as China has invested in one of OneWeb’s owners, with some saying that working with the satellite operator would run afoul of the ministry’s own regulations.
In July last year, OneWeb announced it would merge with French Satellite operator Eutelsat, in which Beijing-run China Investment Corp (中國投資公司) has a 7 percent stake. Eutelsat’s board approved the merger in November last year, and the deal is to be finalized this year.
An official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the British government would retain a special share in OneWeb that gives London a final say over any partnership with the company or access to its technology.
As a member of the “Five Eyes” alliance with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, the UK can be counted upon to be strict about its national interests and information security, the official said.
The special share is a legal mechanism that grants the government more control over OneWeb than the face value of the share would normally confer, the official said, adding that it would permit London to allow only friendly nations to be part of the company’s supply chain.
Additionally, China owns less than 5 percent of OneWeb and the company falls under the legal category of satellite operator under Taiwanese regulations, the official said.
That means rules barring collaboration with telecom companies with more than 5 percent Chinese shares do not apply to the proposal, as Internet users incorrectly suggested, they said.
The Taiwan Space Agency yesterday said that Taiwan would need more than 120 satellites to create a satellite-based Internet infrastructure, which far exceeds domestic launch capabilities.
The agency also sees no alternative than to seek help from foreign entities to launch the satellites, it said, adding that candidates for partnership would be vetted carefully in line with laws and regulations.
The agency previously said that the satellite project was a necessary measure to address the vulnerability of Taiwan’s undersea Internet cables to sabotage by China.
Additional reporting by Wu Po-hsuan
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
RSS