appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Lawrence Chung

Taiwan has cleared the way for overseas satellite internet providers such as Starlink to operate on the island – a move analysts said could strengthen military and civilian communications if conventional networks were disrupted in a conflict with mainland China.
On Tuesday, the island’s legislature approved an amendment to the Telecommunications Management Act that would exempt satellite communications operators from foreign ownership caps and the requirement to have a Taiwanese chair.
The exemptions – which are subject to security and public interest checks – are widely seen as removing the biggest legal obstacle that has prevented Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX, from operating in Taiwan.
Negotiations with the island’s regulators collapsed in 2021 over the company’s insistence on operating a wholly owned local business.
For Taiwan, the significance went far beyond attracting another telecommunications provider, according to Chieh Chung, a research fellow at the Association of Strategic Foresight, a military think tank in Taipei.
Taiwan already works with Britain’s OneWeb to provide low Earth orbit satellite services, but Chieh said this would probably only be enough to support core military communications and those of some government agencies during wartime.
“Even providing backup for those core users would be challenging, let alone maintaining wider communications within Taiwan and with the outside world, or supporting civilian connectivity to preserve social stability,” he said.
“Starlink already has a very large number of satellites in orbit and can replenish them quickly. That makes it one of the few systems capable of substantially increasing Taiwan’s low Earth orbit satellite communications capacity within a relatively short period.”
The technology had also proved its worth in war, he said, pointing to its extensive use in Ukraine and ability to adapt to Russian electronic jamming.
Chieh added that the US military was developing a military-grade network based largely on Starlink’s architecture, potentially creating greater opportunities for interoperability between Taiwanese and US forces.
But he said Starlink’s entry into Taiwan would ultimately depend on whether Musk – who has previously said the island is an integral part of China – was prepared to risk provoking Beijing.
The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin asked him not to activate Starlink over Taiwan as a favour to Beijing.


Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve reunification. Most countries – including the United States, Taiwan’s main international supporter – do not recognise the island as an independent state. However, Washington is opposed to any attempt to take it by force.
Taiwanese Digital Affairs Minister Lin Yi-ching has said the government recently contacted Starlink to ask whether it remained interested in operating in Taiwan.
The company replied that it was not a high-priority market because more than 99 per cent of the population was already covered by 4G and 5G services.
“That could reflect Starlink’s genuine commercial assessment, but it could also simply be part of its negotiating strategy,” Lin said, adding that discussions were continuing.
Chieh said that if Starlink was willing to enter Taiwan, it would be one of the most practical ways to rapidly expand satellite communications.
He said Taiwan’s military could also technically use Starlink to communicate with overseas partners even if local ground stations were disabled in a conflict.
At the start of the Ukraine war, Starlink traffic was routed through ground stations in neighbouring countries because Ukraine initially lacked its own facilities, he said.
“The same principle applies to Taiwan. Even if local ground stations were destroyed, communications could still be routed through overseas stations. From a technical perspective, it is entirely possible,” Chieh added.
But analysts and lawmakers warned that Taiwan should avoid becoming too dependent on a foreign commercial operator.
“Elon Musk has substantial business interests in China and is highly dependent on the Chinese market,” Chen Su-yueh, a legislator from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said in April.


Chen added Musk’s perceived pro-Beijing stance had raised concerns about entrusting critical infrastructure to a foreign company with close commercial ties to mainland China.
“If Taiwan faces a crisis, how can we ensure the operator will not suspend services to us under pressure from a foreign government or because of its commercial interests?” she said.
Yeh Chih-liang, an associate professor at Yuan Ze University in Taoyuan, said low Earth orbit satellite networks were “the last line of defence for Taiwan’s digital resilience”.
But he warned that maintaining services during a crisis could ultimately depend on the commercial or geopolitical interests of overseas operators.
“Without locally operated gateway stations and data storage requirements, communications traffic could bypass Taiwan’s regulatory framework, potentially exposing government and critical infrastructure data to overseas monitoring,” Yeh said.


Chinese defence chief skirts flashpoints at Xiangshan Forum ahead of Xi-Trump summit

Dong Jun takes softer line on US at Xiangshan Forum as Xi prepares for Trump summit

Fragility and cooperation: takeaways from Dong Jun’s Xiangshan Forum speech

How Okinawa’s political shift could make Japan more prepared for a Taiwan contingency

Taiwan

Taiwan opens door to Starlink – but now it must wait to see if Elon Musk is ready to enter

Starlink has said Taiwan is not a high priority. Photo: Handout

Startlink has said Taiwan was not a priority. Photo: Shutterstock

Taiwan’s new military outsourcing plan: a pragmatic fix or security risk?

Private guards will take over routine duties at nine military academy sites in Taiwan under an outsourcing pilot programme. Photo: EPA

Military cadets march during a graduation ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan on June 30, 2026. Photo: Reuters

The radar system that Taiwan says tracked the PLA’s ballistic missile launch

Beijing has not confirmed the type of missile used in the test but a senior Taiwanese security official says it was a JL-2. Photo: Kyodo


Joseph Wu, secretary general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, says this map shows the missile’s path. Photo: X.com/Joseph Wu

News

China

Military

Changes to the telecoms law remove barriers to foreign satellite internet firms and could help protect communication networks during a war


Changes to the telecoms law remove barriers to foreign satellite internet firms and could help protect communication networks during a war.


Starlink

Elon Musk

SpaceX

Taiwan opens door to Starlink – but now it must wait to see if Elon Musk is ready to enter

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Changes to the telecoms law remove barriers to foreign satellite internet firms and could help protect communication networks during a war

Changes to the telecoms law remove barriers to foreign satellite internet firms and could help protect communication networks during a war