Sea vessels from neighboring countries have repeatedly damaged submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper with outlying islands, a budget review report published by the National Audit Office showed.
Communication between Taiwan proper and outlying islands depends mainly on underwater cable communication systems, supplemented by microwave transmission and satellite systems, the report says.
Once underwater cable system malfunctions, it can severely affect communication among Taiwan proper, Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, it says.
Photo: Taipei Times file
The nation has 10 domestic submarine cables, all invested, constructed and maintained by Chunghwa Telecom, the report says.
There were 36 cases of damage caused by external forces from 2019 to last year, with an average of about seven submarine cable failures per year, it says.
Twelve submarine cable failures were recorded last year alone, the most in the past five years, the report says.
“It is reported the damage was mainly caused by the operation or anchoring of various vessels, such as sand dredgers, fishing boats and merchant ships from neighboring countries. Repairs can sometimes take more than four months to complete, which greatly affects the lives of people on the outlying islands,” it says.
Among the damaged cables is the No. 2 undersea telecom cable connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) and Lienchiang County’s Dongyin Island (東引), which was suspected of being damaged by a fishing boat anchoring on Feb. 2 last year, it says.
Another cable, connecting Caota (草漯) in Taoyuan and Lienchiang County’s Nangan Island (南竿), the No. 3 cable, was suspected of being damaged by a cargo ship on Feb. 8, resulting in the congestion of mobile communications and Internet services for more than 10,000 households in Matsu, it says.
The incident seriously affected the operations of government agencies, financial transactions, medical services and transportation, it says.
“The National Communications Commission says it has asked telecoms to reduce the risk of submarine cable damage through multiple protection mechanisms, including conducting telecom traffic diversion drills and replacing submarine cables in sections with higher failure rates. The capacity of the microwave backup system would continue to be expanded as well,” the report says.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS