T.H. Schee: On Taiwan’s Civil Defense Preparedness One Year Later After the War in Ukraine Ep 232

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.

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

Related Links:

T.H. Schee’s Website: https://blog.schee.info

T.H. Schee on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scheeinfo

New Bloom Magazine: https://newbloommag.net/

Taiwan Military Proposes Revisions in All-Out Mobilization Act (from Taiwan Plus): https://www.taiwanplus.com/taiwan-news/politics/230227014/taiwan-military-proposes-revisions-in-all-out-mobilization-act

Taiwan defense ministry prepares practical changes to mobilization law (an article from Taiwan News): https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4823739

Revisions to divisive mobilization act not finalized: Presidential Office (an article from Focus Taiwan): https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202303010020

General Mobilization Act Amendments Dropped After Controversy (an article from New Bloom Magazine): https://newbloommag.net/2023/03/07/mobilization-act-controversy/

Martial Law in Taiwan: https://oftaiwan.org/history/white-terror/martial-law/

The 228 Incident: https://228massacre.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_28_incident

https://www.taiwandc.org/228-intr.htm

Internet slows as four out of five submarine cables suffer disruptions in unprecedented incident (from Vietnam Plus): https://en.vietnamplus.vn/internet-slows-as-four-out-of-five-submarine-cables-suffer-disruptions-in-unprecedented-incident/247650.vnp

Vietnam’s internet connection disrupted as four of five undersea cables broken (from Vietnam Insider): https://vietnaminsider.vn/vietnams-internet-connection-disrupted-as-four-of-five-undersea-cables-broken/

Fishermen pull the plug on Vietnam’s Web, steal cable for scrap (from Computerworld): https://www.computerworld.com/article/2541664/fishermen-pull-the-plug-on-vietnam-s-web–steal-cable-for-scrap.html

Cut Submarine Cables Between Taiwan and Matsu Raise Concerns About Chinese Interference (from New Bloom Magazine): https://newbloommag.net/2023/02/17/matsu-submarine-cable-cut/

Taiwan suspects Chinese ships cut islands’ internet cables (from AP): https://apnews.com/article/matsu-taiwan-internet-cables-cut-china-65f10f5f73a346fa788436366d7a7c70

Baidu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidu

UN Internet Governance Forum: https://www.intgovforum.org/en

National Palace Museum: https://www.npm.gov.tw/?l=2

Almost 100,000 high-res images of National Palace Museum artifacts leaked (from Formosa News): https://english.ftvnews.com.tw/news/2023314W07EA

Images from Taiwan’s National Palace Museum leaked onto Chinese websites (an article from Taiwan News): https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4834245

Hi-res art scans from famous Taiwan museum leak online… and turn up for sale on Chinese online shopping platform (an article from CNN): https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/15/business/taiwan-museum-leaked-artwork-images-sold-on-chinese-online-platform-intl-hnk

TikTok banned on U.S. government devices, and the U.S. is not alone. Here’s where the app is restricted. (from CBS News): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiktok-banned-us-government-where-else-around-the-world/

TikTok says US threatens ban if Chinese owners don’t sell stakes(an article from Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-threatens-tiktok-ban-if-chinese-owners-dont-sell-stake-wsj-2023-03-15/

U.S. Threatens Ban if TikTok’s Chinese Owners Don’t Sell Stakes (an article from the Wall Street Journal): https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-threatens-to-ban-tiktok-if-chinese-founder-doesnt-sell-ownership-stake-36d7295c

Taiwan pursues internet satellite service ahead of potential Chinese invasion: https://www.semafor.com/article/03/22/2023/taiwan-pursues-internet-satellite-service-ahead-of-potential-chinese-invasion

Taiwan’s Civil Defense Preparedness: T.H. Schee on How to Prepare for the Threat of an Attack Ep 178

Eric Chang on China’s Breach of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone: Threat or Bluff? Ep 127

Will China Attack Taiwan? Kuan-Ting Chen Discusses Ramifications of the War in Ukraine on Taiwan Ep 175

Taiwan Cares Humanitarian Efforts for Ukraine Raise $9000 in 24 Hours Ep 176

Eric Chan Discusses What Led the Taiwan Military to Shoot Down a Chinese Civilian Drone Ep 206

Robert Tsao, Founder of UMC Pledges to Donate USD 100 Million to Taiwan’s Military Cause Ep 229