Internet infrastructure is surprisingly fragile, which has big implications for the global battle over information.
Illustration by Sam Ward
MATSU, TAIWAN – In February and March of this year, when the mayor of Nangan township, Lin Zhidong, wanted to check his email, it meant walking 15 minutes across the rolling hillside from his office to a crowded phone company outpost where he could connect to a WiFi hotspot and wait for his messages to load.
This was far from the normal state of being for the people of the Matsu islands, which — while a 3 hour ferry ride from Taipei — is part of Taiwan and home to a vibrant touris
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