The first submarine cable directly linking Taiwan and China was completed on Friday, with the telecommunications operators who built it expecting it to improve cross-strait telecommunications quality and to cut communications costs.
The Taiwan Strait Express-1, which links Fuzhou in China’s Fujian Province with Tamsui in northern Taiwan, is 270km long.
Builders adopted state-of-the-art fiber-optic technology for the system and routed it in a way that avoids the faultline region, to minimize the risks of possible damage from natural disasters such as earthquakes.
In future, communications between Taiwan and China will no longer have to be rerouted via the Asia-Euro Under-sea Optical Cable, the China-US Cable Network or the Asia Pacific Cable Network 2.
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait witnessed the completion of the system through a video hookup.
Douglas Hsu (徐旭東), chairman of Taiwan’s Far EasTone, said that the completion of the system will make cross-strait communications faster and more stable, and create a win-win situation for operators and users.
Telecoms operators suggested this was just the beginning of further cooperation between Taiwan and China in the sector.
Taiwan Mobile chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興) said the system will provide a faster and higher-quality service for Taiwanese businessmen operating in China.
“Taiwan Mobile is planning further cooperation with China’s telecommunications operators on cloud computing services to tap into the vast business opportunities in digital convergence,” Tsai said.
China Mobile chief executive officer Li Yue (李躍) said that the latest system will not only upgrade the quality of cross-strait communications, but will also save costs for operators.
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard
BOOST TO SPORTS? The Executive Yuan said that the amendment was introduced to attract professionals to Taiwan, and increase the incentives for naturalization The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed on third reading an amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) that would reduce the minimum residency period required for highly skilled professionals to apply for naturalization from three to two continuous years, with a minimum of 183 days in Taiwan each year. The 183-day requirement does not apply if an eligible applicant has lived legally in the territory of the Republic of China for more than five continuous years. Taiwan’s professional basketball leagues are expected to benefit from the amendments, which would allow them to recruit more players from overseas. Prior to the passage of the amendment, the
REPORT: Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining loitering munitions matching the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 or the Anduril Altius-600, ‘Foreign Policy’ said Taiwan is seeking US-made kamikaze drones in an apparent concession to pressure from Washington to focus on asymmetric capabilities to defeat or deter a Chinese attack, Foreign Policy said in a report on Wednesday. Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities, it said, citing four sources familiar with the matter commenting on condition of anonymity. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed for attacking ground troops, while its larger sibling, the Switchblade 600, could be used to destroy tanks and entrenched troops. Ukraine has utilized both systems extensively in its fight against