Beijing's war drills and Taiwan's communications satellites
China’s large-scale Joint Sword drill, launched yesterday in response to President Lai's remarks in his 10 October speech about Taiwan not being subordinate, was quickly ended. Pro-unification posts on Weibo were also quickly removed. Meanwhile, Chunghwa Telecom has announced that its communication satellites will cover the entire island 24 hours a day by the end of the month, making it less reliant on submarine cables.
Taipei (AsiaNews) – As many as 153 planes flew around Taiwan in the space of 25 hours, along with navy and coast guard ships engaged in simulating a naval blockade.
More than the substance of the operation were the size of Beijing’s show of force. Codenamed Joint Sword 2024-B, the major military exercise came in the wake of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's first speech on 10 October, Taiwan’s National Day.
The drill was a response to Lai's claims that China has "no right to represent Taiwan" and that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are "not subordinate" to each other.
This drill matched last May’s Joint Sword, which followed the inauguration of Taiwan’s newly elected pro-independence president (hence the addition of 2024-B).
The exercise ended at 6 am today, restoring calm around Taiwan.
The drill was not limited to sky and sea but also involved Weibo, China’s microblogging website, where trending topics included remarks such as "there is only one China in the world" and "the complete unification of the motherland will be realised,” which vanished as quickly as they were posted.
It seems that, after the drill, rhetoric too has gone quiet so as not to raise too many questions among netizens about China’s greater military display at a time when domestic attention is focused on Beijing’s stimulus package for an economy that, despite official statements, continues to struggle.
For their part, people in Taiwan remain sceptical about the possibility of a Chinese invasion. A poll by the Institute for Research on Defence and National Security (INDSR) last month found that 61 per cent of respondents believe it is "unlikely or very unlikely" that China will attack Taiwan in the next five years.
On the island, other Chinese threats against Taiwanese democracy, such as military drills and propaganda campaigns, are of greater concerns. And the confrontation is bound to continue in other areas as well.
Meanwhile, just as Beijing was flexing its muscles again, Taiwan’s largest telecommunications provider Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) announced that signals from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites should cover the whole island 24 hours a day by the end of October.
These systems are the most effective alternative to submarine cables, which the People's Republic of China could more easily block, thus isolating the "rebel island" from communications with the outside world.
To this end, Chunghwa Telecom signed an exclusive distribution partner agreement for LEO satellite services in Taiwan with the Franco-British group Eutelsat OneWeb in November 2023.
Since then, the development of this technology has continued with access to satellites through ground stations in Japan, Thailand, and Guam until full signal coverage will be in place, which is now imminent.
One last step is still missing: ground stations in Taiwan. In this regard, Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs has promised to set up 700 of them by the end of this year.
If this happens and if the bandwidth is sufficient, CHT can also start marketing its satellite communication services, making Taiwan's communication network more resilient to breakdowns, natural disasters, and other disruptions.
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19/08/2004
