Arrival of Submarine Cable a Milestone for High-Speed Broadband in Kiribati | Asian Development Bank
I got it mixed up with the East Micronesia Cable here.The East Micronesia Cable connects Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati, to Nauru, Kosrae of the Federated States of Micronesia, and HANTRU-1, where it exists today. Initially led by the World Bank, the project was put out to public bidding, and as anyone can guess, Huawei came up with an unbeatable price. The only authority that can reject this is the participants in this project is the participants in this project are Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Although there is no official information available, the US-backed Federated States of Micronesia and Nauru (which has diplomatic relations with Taiwan) opposed the offer, and the deal fell apart. So the familiar trio of Japan, the U.S., and Australia have come out in support.
The cable that was landed in Kiribati yesterday is a project of Souther Cross Cable, an Australian-NZ company that I remember being discussed for almost 20 years. The ADB is supporting the project in Kiribati, which lies near Hawaii. I believe there was also a Japanese space base here. It is also a key security point for Japan, the United States, and like-minded countries, and a priority development focus for Kiribati, which is suffering from population growth.
Now, can we get the Chinese out of here!
こちらの東ミクロネシアケーブルとごっちゃになっていました。
東ミクロネシアケーブルはキリバスの首都タラワからナウル、ミクロネシア連邦のコスラエそして今あるHANTRU-1に接続。当初世銀が主導し、公開入札におしたところ、誰もが想像するようにHuaweiが破格の値段を出してきた。これを拒否できる権限はこの事業の参加者。すなわち、キリバス 、ナウル、ミクロネシア連邦。明確な情報は出ていないが、米国がバックアップするミクロネシア連邦、ナウル（台湾と国交がある）が反対し、ご破算になった。そこで日米豪のいつものトリオが支援に出てきた、というわけです。
昨日キリバスに陸揚げされたケーブルは Souther Cross Cableという豪NZの会社の事業でかれこれ20年近く話が出ていた記憶があります。ADBがキリバスの箇所を支援。こちらはキリバスと言っても広くて、ハワイに近いKiritimati(Christmas Island)に陸揚げ。ここは日本の宇宙開発基地もあったはず。日米、民主主義国家の安全保障上の要でもあり、人口増加で悩むキリバスの開発重点地域でもあります。
さあ、これで中国を追い出せるか！
