Taiwan's government today launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improving the 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," Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei.
The project will 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
Lin said Taiwan sits at a vital junction on the global communications map, with several major international undersea cables passing through or near the country.
In recent years, however, Taiwan has repeatedly experienced the consequences of cable disruptions, in instances where local authorities have found damage to cables connecting its outlying islands, the minister 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, a member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said that currently 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, he said.
Between 2023 and this year, there were 12 separate incidents that affected energy lines and undersea cables across the Baltic region, Kols said, adding that he believes they were "acts of sabotage."
Taiwan sits at a vital juncture of the Indo-Pacific'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.
The half-day seminar today was organized by the Taipei-based Research Institute for Democracy Society and Emerging Technology, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Formosa Club — a Taiwan-friendly cross-party group of European legislators.
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