Taiwan Simulates 256-Kbps Internet Blackout Across 14 Areas as China Threats Expose Cable Risks
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 14
Taiwan Simulates 256-Kbps Internet Blackout Across 14 Areas as China Threats Expose Cable Risks
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 14
Summary
Internet speeds were slashed to near text-only levels during air-raid drills in 14 cities and counties, disrupting video calls, streaming and mobile payments for areas covering about 70% of Taiwan’s 23 million people.
Authorities said the first-of-its-kind blackout simulation was meant to push civilians to test backup communications as Beijing’s military pressure grows and wartime disruption becomes a more immediate planning scenario.
Submarine cables are a central concern: Taiwan relies on 16 international and 10 domestic links, and several have been damaged in recent years in incidents involving Chinese or China-linked vessels.
Taiwan is building layered alternatives so a single outage cannot isolate the island, including radio-based messaging tools used by civil-defense volunteers and potential low-Earth-orbit satellite services such as Starlink.
Researchers say repeated drills are designed to make the public feel the inconvenience now, so reliable backup channels can reduce fear, confusion and disinformation in a real crisis.