The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world.
The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei.
The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.”
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Taiwan sits at a vital junction on the global communications map, with several major international undersea cables passing through or near the nation, but it has repeatedly experienced the consequences of cable disruptions in instances where local authorities have found damage to cables connecting its outlying islands, Lin said.
“These experiences have taught us an important lesson: Resilience cannot be taken for granted. It must be built through planning, implementation and cooperation,” he said, adding that this is why Taiwan is launching the initiative.
“This is not a national project, but rather a global partnership,” Lin said, calling on stakeholders around the world to join the initiative.
The project is “an open, inclusive and collaborative platform” to secure a future “where data flows freely and securely, where no nation is left behind and where connectivity is treated as a public good, not a geopolitical weapon,” he said.
At the seminar, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said that there are more than 600 operational or planned cables worldwide, stretching nearly 1.5 million kilometers.
“These are not just lines of data. They are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,” which is under stress, Kols said.
Since 2023, there have been 12 separate incidents that affected energy lines and undersea cables across the Baltic region, he said, adding that he believed they were “acts of sabotage.”
Taiwan sits at a vital juncture of the Indo-Pacific region’s digital infrastructure and is a strategic hub for global connectivity, said Kols, who is from Latvia.
“Taiwan knows better than most what it means to be targeted with persistent pressure — economic, digital, narrative and also physical — which is why Taiwan’s experience matters and why Taiwan’s voice must be part of this global conversation,” he said.
At a news conference afterward, Kols suggested that the EU and Taiwan could cooperate in making use of drone technologies to monitor undersea cables.
The RISK initiative is to become a “natural base for cooperation, be it research innovation, be it the exchange of best practices,” he said.
He also noted the “Readiness 2030” strategic defense initiative proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in March, aimed at enhancing the EU’s military capabilities.
The initiative is also inviting “trusted partners” to engage with the defense industry in Europe to build core projects and research, Kols said.
“I think this is a place where Taiwan really can step forward,” he said.
Despite its relatively small size, Taiwan is the 13th-largest trading partner for the EU, he said, adding that “above all, it’s a trusted partner that we can rely upon.”
The half-day seminar was organized by the Taipei-based Research Institute for Democracy Society and Emerging Technology, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Formosa Club, a Taiwan-friendly cross-party group of European legislators.
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