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Could ham radio help Taiwan survive wartime internet outage?

Mi Tang | Yuchen Li both in Taipei
January 9, 2026

Amid claims of China sabotaging Taiwan's undersea internet cables, some citizens are learning how to send and receive their own emergency communications.

https://p.dw.com/p/56W9n

In Taiwan, a nonprofit civil defense group, Ganghu, has started training people on how to communicate using amateur radio, also known as ham radio, if the internet is unavailable. 

This comes as Beijing, which claims democratically self-governed Taiwan as its own territory, faces allegations of sabotaging and damaging Taiwan's undersea internet cables

Taiwan currently relies on 15 international and 10 domestic communication cables to carry more than 90% of its internet traffic. Without these, the island could be cut off from the outside world and even internal communications would likely collapse.

These internet cables, often described as the island's "digital lifelines," are damaged an average of seven to eight times a year, according to a 2025 report by Taiwan's National Security Bureau. 

As authorities scramble to protect cables and build satellite-based backup systems, some citizens are turning to amateur radio as a solution.

Yuchen Li East Asia correspondent covering China and Taiwan