Category: Security policy

The extent to which critical infrastructure has become a pawn in current threats is demonstrated by the dependence of Taiwan's Matsu and Kinmen Islands on intact submarine cables. Although these small island groups lie deep within the Chinese coast, they are part of Taiwan's national territory (as are the Pescadores Islands in the Taiwan Strait). Tangle of cables The dozen small and tiny islands in the Matsu group, located in the north off the Chinese city of Fuschou, are connected to the main island for data and telephony supply via steel-armoured, 2 to 3 centimetre-thick fibre optic cables. If one of these cables is cut, the only alternative supply to the archipelago is via microwave radio relay, but its capacity is barely sufficient for telephone calls.