Two undersea cables connecting Lienchiang County (Matsu) with Taiwan proper were disrupted due to “natural deterioration” and could be repaired by next month, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today.
The No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cable was obstructed on Wednesday last week, and the No. 2 Taiwan-Matsu cable was disrupted this morning at 5am, Chunghwa Telecom said today.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs held a news conference at 11am to explain the situation.
Photo: Taipei Times
Chunghwa Telecom activated microwave communications within one hour of the second cable’s disruption at the ministry’s request, Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Chiueh Her-ming (闕河鳴) said.
Communications should not be impacted, as the current microwave bandwidth is 12.6Gbps, which is higher than Matsu’s daily peak bandwidth of 9.5Gbps, Chiueh said.
Bandwidth would be prioritized for essential public services such as government agencies, banks and hospitals to ensure they are not disrupted, he said.
During the Lunar New Year holiday, people could still withdraw money from ATMs and online transactions would remain uninterrupted, he added.
The ministry has nine asynchronous satellite devices in Matsu that would serve as backup microwave channels for the Lienchiang County Government, Chiueh said.
No “suspicious” ships were detected when the cables went offline, he said.
Natural deterioration was the likely cause, but cases of ships damaging Taiwan's sea cables have risen in recent years, he added.
So far this year, Taiwan has reported four cases of disruptions in undersea cables, compared with only three both last year and in 2023, Chiueh said.
In 2023, the two undersea cables connecting Lienchiang were cut, disconnecting the Internet.
Authorities said two Chinese vessels caused the disruption, but that there was no evidence that Beijing deliberately tampered with the cables.
Taiwan has since worked to boost its communication resilience for emergencies including a conflict with China, such as a trial program to use low-Earth orbit satellites for remote areas including Lienchiang.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
RSS