Taiwan lawmakers remove legal hurdles for Starlink to operate

Taiwan, which China claims is part of its territory and has threatened to seize by force, has no low Earth orbit satellites of its own and relies on subsea telecoms cables to connect it to the rest of the world.

Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom has struck deals with several foreign satellite companies to provide back-up telecommunications in case of war or natural disaster, but lawmakers argued it was not enough.

They said the Telecommunications Management Act's requirements for telecoms operators to have a Taiwanese chairperson and foreign ownership caps of 49 percent had deterred Starlink from entering Taiwan's market.

In a rare moment of unity in the deeply divided parliament, lawmakers from President Lai Ching-te's Democratic Progressive party joined the opposition in approving changes to allow a case-by-case review process that could exempt companies, such as Starlink, from these rules.

Authorities will be required to take into consideration national security, network security, market competition and other factors when making their decision.

The amendments will be sent to Lai to sign and put into effect.

Starlink, owned by US billionaire Elon Musk, dominates the global satellite communications sector with thousands of satellites in orbit and operations in dozens of countries.