Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology has once again grabbed international attention after Apple in September introduced a feature allowing iPhone 14 users in the US and Canada to send emergency messages from remote locations through satellites. This comes as Space X’s satellite service, Starlink, plays a key role in providing Internet access in Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.

In Taiwan, the big-three telecoms have been preparing to launch satellite broadband services. Although Taiwan has relatively good 4G and 5G network coverage, along with an extensive fiber-optic network, some mountainous and remote areas still have spotty Internet service.

Conversations about US policy toward Taiwan often invoke “strategic ambiguity.” The promotion of this concept is quixotic, provocative, and dangerous. Strategic ambiguity has never been the official US position. What has kept the Taiwan Strait peaceful and stable for the past seven decades is not strategic ambiguity, but the exact opposite. When it comes to the use of force in defense of Taiwan, America’s position is consistent and unambiguous: strategic clarity.

The concept of strategic ambiguity refers to the supposed US position of not stating whether it will use force to defend Taiwan, if and when China invades the democratic nation. The policy’s purported purpose is to discourage such aggression, as well as any pretext for such aggression, namely the unilateral declaration of independence by Taiwan.