The government expects satellite service by British provider OneWeb to cover all of Taiwan by the end of this year, Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said.
The service expansion would provide more options for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to Taiwan, the Central News Agency quoted Tang as saying.
OneWeb services are currently only available in the northern part of Taiwan, said Tang, who made a rare trip to London earlier this week and visited OneWeb, which specializes in LEO satellites.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Digital Affairs
OneWeb, which is backed by the British government, is “very willing” to work with Taiwan to bolster Taiwan’s communication infrastructure, she said.
The government’s disaster response plan calls for the establishment of 700 satellite receivers placed across the country, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said.
Some of the receivers would be fixed and others mobile, and they would have to be configured to receive communications from multiple constellations of satellites in LEO and medium Earth orbit.
However, online commenters yesterday raised concerns, as China has invested in one of OneWeb’s owners, with some saying that working with the satellite operator would run afoul of the ministry’s own regulations.
In July last year, OneWeb announced it would merge with French Satellite operator Eutelsat, in which Beijing-run China Investment Corp (中國投資公司) has a 7 percent stake. Eutelsat’s board approved the merger in November last year, and the deal is to be finalized this year.
An official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the British government would retain a special share in OneWeb that gives London a final say over any partnership with the company or access to its technology.
As a member of the “Five Eyes” alliance with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, the UK can be counted upon to be strict about its national interests and information security, the official said.
The special share is a legal mechanism that grants the government more control over OneWeb than the face value of the share would normally confer, the official said, adding that it would permit London to allow only friendly nations to be part of the company’s supply chain.
Additionally, China owns less than 5 percent of OneWeb and the company falls under the legal category of satellite operator under Taiwanese regulations, the official said.
That means rules barring collaboration with telecom companies with more than 5 percent Chinese shares do not apply to the proposal, as Internet users incorrectly suggested, they said.
The Taiwan Space Agency yesterday said that Taiwan would need more than 120 satellites to create a satellite-based Internet infrastructure, which far exceeds domestic launch capabilities.
The agency also sees no alternative than to seek help from foreign entities to launch the satellites, it said, adding that candidates for partnership would be vetted carefully in line with laws and regulations.
The agency previously said that the satellite project was a necessary measure to address the vulnerability of Taiwan’s undersea Internet cables to sabotage by China.
Additional reporting by Wu Po-hsuan
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS