Presidential Office Spokesperson Lii Wen (李問) said during a briefing at the RightsCon 2025 summit on human rights in the digital age that Taiwan currently is formulating various measures to strengthen the protection of submarine cables and communication resilience.
This year marks the first time RightsCon was held in Taiwan. Lii participated in talks on topics related to digital resilience and gave a special report on submarine cable protection and multi-level backup. He said the safeguarding of submarine cables should be treated as a national security issue as their destruction has become a means of grey zone warfare.
Lii pointed out that two submarine cables connecting Matsu and Taiwan have already been severed this month, and although backup communications have improved in recent years, Matsu’s internet speed is still affected. He stressed the need to maintain stable communications, proposing the principle of “backup, backup, and backup again,” emphasizing the need to establish multi-level backup communication systems using different types of technologies.
Lii’s statements come on the heels of a cable break in the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable, per a press release issued by the Digital Ministry this Tuesday. Although the cable has been completely severed, the Taiwan-Penghu No. 2, Penghu-Kinmen No. 3, and Taiwan-Kinmen No. 2 cables connecting Taiwan to Penghu and Kinmen remain intact. Repairs will commence as soon as repairs to the Taiwan-Malaysia No. 2 and No. 3 cables are completed.
The ministry has sought to include Taiwan’s 14 international submarine cables and 10 domestic offshore cables among the country’s critical infrastructure facilities, underscoring the need to diversify and strengthen the stability of outlying island communication networks.