A national security crisis could occur due to a high percentage of China-made inverters installed in Taiwan’s solar energy systems, and lawmakers should keep the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) in check over the issue, an information security expert said on Friday.
National Cheng Kung University electrical engineering professor Li Jung-shian (李忠憲) said in a post on his Facebook page that although laws specifically state that key infrastructure may not contain devices or equipment that would endanger national security, inverters — devices that convert direct electricity generated by solar panels into alternating electricity used by power grids — made by China-based Huawei Technologies Co were predominantly installed in Taiwan’s solar energy systems.
“Power facilities are key infrastructure,” Li said. “Since the equipment made by Huawei is cheaper than devices manufactured by Taiwan’s Delta Electronics, and the MODA does not ban the use of devices made by Huawei, people continue using them after taking the costs into account,” he said.
Photo: Taipei Times file
However, it is not clear what Huawei’s inverters could do in crucial moments, he said.
“National security requires high standards and costs. Legislators who are concerned about national security issues should ask Taipower and the Administration for Cyber Security at the ministry how they plan to handle inverters made by Huawei,” he said. “The ministry receives more than NT$20 billion [US$627.9 million] in funding per year, and it should resolve this type of issues.”
The government should have either a white list or a blacklist of Chinese products, so that people know what to or not to use, Li said.
Without a list, the ministry is practically encouraging everyone to find the cheapest inverters to use, he said.
“Taiwan is expanding the development of green energy. If green energy cannot be used in key moments, I am afraid that the entire Taiwan, including the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, would be in a miserable condition,” Li said.
“If solar energy systems with Chinese inverters generate about 5 percent of the nation’s electricity, and the inverters make it possible to monitor the operation of the system remotely, the system could be set to shut down simultaneously,” Lin said. “Other power generators can shut down as well, and this is a serious national security problem.”
In 2021, inverters made by Huawei were reported to have been installed to the solar panels on top of a building in the Legislative Yuan, which generated concerns about information security breaches.
The Legislative Yuan at the time said its solar energy systems had been procured in April 2017 in accordance with relevant regulations. The inverters were later removed.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS