Ep 232 | T.H. Schee: On Taiwan's Civil Defense Preparedness One Year Later After the War in Ukraine
Talking Taiwan
The Disaster of Matsu
Matsu, a city of 12,000 people in southern Taiwan, was cut off from the internet. Residents were unable to book flights or make phone calls for weeks. The government has now restored 20-25% of the capacity and is working on restoring more.
Last year I spoke with T.H. Schee about Taiwan’s civil defense preparedness in episode 178. This was a hot topic of discussion in Taiwan after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2023. It made the military threat that the people of Taiwan face from the People’s Republic of China very real. A year has passed since Russia’s invasion and I wanted to bring T.H. back for a follow up conversation about this and how the government and people of Taiwan have adjusted and continue to deal with the situation there. We also touched upon some recent news stories in Taiwan that are related to the topic of internet security. Next week we’ll be sharing the second part of my interview with T.H. about AI. We’ll be talking about ChatGPT, Baidu’s chatbot Ernie and what concerns in particular that Taiwan should have about AI.
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T.H. Schee is a digital veteran with twenty years of experience in the private and NGO sectors. He was a founding member of the Taiwan Internet Governance Forum and provided his expertise on digital crisis response to the UN Global Geospatial Information Management group. He has served as an adviser to government agencies and the city of Taipei (2016–18) and is a stalwart writer on the intersection of digital and tech policies.
This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.
NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:
1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,
2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,
3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,
4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,
5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.
To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
· The situation in Taiwan since we last spoke to T.H. last year
· Thoughts from T.H.’s March 3 talk with New Bloom Magazine “Lessons from Ukraine for Taiwan?”
· What the government in Taiwan is doing regarding Taiwan’s military preparedness
· Proposed changes to Taiwan’s Mobilization Act that include the military taking control of the media during wartime and the mobilization of people as young as 16 years old
· The importance of allies and partners for Taiwan
· The submarine cables that were cut and affected the internet access of people on Matsu
· How Vietnam had four out of five of its submarine cables cut which meant that there were no ships available to repair the cables that were cut and affected Matsu, so Matsu was without internet access for two to three months
· How the people of Matsu were impacted by the cut submarine cables
· The Taiwan government responded by providing a microwave transmission for Matsu
· How some people of Matsu purchased SIM cards from China to be able to access the internet, and what is problematic about that
· The Taiwan Internet Governance Forum
· How/why the submarine cables in the Taiwan Strait have gotten cut 25 times in five years
· The hi-resolutions photos from the National Palace Museum got hacked and ended up for sale online
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