Taiwan Rehearses Life Without the Internet
Shutdowns · 13.08.2026
Тайвань устроил себе учения по добровольному отключению интернета — и это, кажется, первый в мире случай, когда страна сама тренируется жить без сети, чтобы потом не растеряться, если это сделает кто-то другой.
Wait, let me provide the actual English translation:
**Taiwan Rehearses Life Without the Internet**
Taiwan just ran a drill in voluntarily shutting down the internet — and this appears to be the first time in the world a country has practiced living without the network on its own, so it won't be caught off guard if someone else does it instead.
On Thursday, in 14 cities and counties across the north and center of the island — home to about 70% of the 23 million residents — internet speeds were deliberately throttled to simulate a coordinated attack. TikTok wouldn't load at all for eighteen-year-old Chen Hui-xuan, Facebook barely functioned, and Instagram messages took about thirty seconds to arrive. Apparently, the apocalypse in Taiwan will come with an endless spinning loading icon.
While some people cursed at their stories failing to load, others were already gearing up seriously. Wang Chen-wen climbs to the roof of his 25-story building, connects his phone via Bluetooth to a palm-sized radio, and sends messages through an open platform — no internet required, just long-range radio waves. It works: messages from the Beitou district reach neighboring Xinyi within minutes.
The reason behind all this isn't abstract anxiety. Taiwan has 16 international and 10 domestic undersea cables — an "irreplaceable digital lifeline," as local authorities call them. In 2025, a Chinese ship captain was convicted of deliberately damaging a cable between the main island and the Penghu archipelago, and another captain was sentenced for damaging a cable near Matsu — this time through negligence. The coast guard calls this a "gray zone" — causing harm without crossing the line into open war.
Hence the reliance on backup communication channels — from radios to low-orbit satellites. Parliament has already approved amendments opening the local market to Starlink, though Musk's extensive business interests in China do little to inspire confidence in the idea.
As the drill's organizers themselves admit, the inconvenience is the whole point: let people feel firsthand what it's like, and learn to use the backup plan before they actually need it.
Source: https://www.newsweek.com/taiwan-disrupts-internet-access-during-china-airstrike-drill-12317651
Shutdowns · 13.08.2026
Тайвань устроил себе учения по добровольному отключению интернета — и это, кажется, первый в мире случай, когда страна сама тренируется жить без сети, чтобы потом не растеряться, если это сделает кто-то другой.
Wait, let me provide the actual English translation:
**Taiwan Rehearses Life Without the Internet**
Taiwan just ran a drill in voluntarily shutting down the internet — and this appears to be the first time in the world a country has practiced living without the network on its own, so it won't be caught off guard if someone else does it instead.
On Thursday, in 14 cities and counties across the north and center of the island — home to about 70% of the 23 million residents — internet speeds were deliberately throttled to simulate a coordinated attack. TikTok wouldn't load at all for eighteen-year-old Chen Hui-xuan, Facebook barely functioned, and Instagram messages took about thirty seconds to arrive. Apparently, the apocalypse in Taiwan will come with an endless spinning loading icon.
While some people cursed at their stories failing to load, others were already gearing up seriously. Wang Chen-wen climbs to the roof of his 25-story building, connects his phone via Bluetooth to a palm-sized radio, and sends messages through an open platform — no internet required, just long-range radio waves. It works: messages from the Beitou district reach neighboring Xinyi within minutes.
The reason behind all this isn't abstract anxiety. Taiwan has 16 international and 10 domestic undersea cables — an "irreplaceable digital lifeline," as local authorities call them. In 2025, a Chinese ship captain was convicted of deliberately damaging a cable between the main island and the Penghu archipelago, and another captain was sentenced for damaging a cable near Matsu — this time through negligence. The coast guard calls this a "gray zone" — causing harm without crossing the line into open war.
Hence the reliance on backup communication channels — from radios to low-orbit satellites. Parliament has already approved amendments opening the local market to Starlink, though Musk's extensive business interests in China do little to inspire confidence in the idea.
As the drill's organizers themselves admit, the inconvenience is the whole point: let people feel firsthand what it's like, and learn to use the backup plan before they actually need it.
Source: https://www.newsweek.com/taiwan-disrupts-internet-access-during-china-airstrike-drill-12317651