China’s comprehensive pressure campaign against Taiwan increasingly seeks to control the physical means of transmitting information, the lifeblood of modern societies. Both Beijing and Taipei view information and communication networks—from undersea cables on the ocean floor to satellites in space and everywhere in between—as critical aspects of a cross–Taiwan Strait contest. To bolster Taiwan’s ability to resist China’s attempts to interfere with those networks, or even impose a digital blockade of the island, the United States will have to draw on technological, diplomatic, and military tools. 

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) will host a live discussion to explore these issues on Thursday, May 28, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. ET. The discussion will mark the release of a new CNAS report, Thwarting Communications Blackout: Protecting Taiwan’s Information and Communication Networks from China’s Attempts to Cut Them Off, coauthored by Jacob Stokes, senior fellow and deputy director of the CNAS Indo-Pacific Security Program (IPS), and Ryan Claffey, IPS research assistant. The report explores three areas that would be pivotal in the battle for information control across the Taiwan Strait: undersea cables, satellite communication systems, and the electromagnetic spectrum. 

The authors will be joined by three distinguished experts who will contribute their insights to the discussion: Bethany Allen, head of China investigations and analysis with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Cyber, Technology and Security Program; Kitsch Liao, associate director with the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub; and Bryce Barros, associate fellow with the GeoTech Center at GLOBSEC.