House China committee demands Elon Musk open SpaceX Starshield internet to U.S. troops in Taiwan

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent a letter on Saturday to Elon Musk demanding that U.S. troops stationed in Taiwan get access to SpaceX's Starshield, a satellite communication network designed specifically for the military.

The letter, obtained by CNBC and first reported by Forbes, claimed that by not making Starshield available to U.S. military forces in Taiwan, SpaceX could violate its Pentagon contract, which requires "global access" to Starshield technology.

"I understand, however, that SpaceX is possibly withholding broadband internet services in and around Taiwan — possibly in breach of SpaceX's contractual obligations with the U.S. government," read the letter, which was signed by Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wi., who chairs the House CCP committee.

The Pentagon awarded SpaceX a one-year contract for Starshield in September, after commissioning SpaceX's Starlink network months earlier for Ukraine's war against Russia, which hit the two-year mark on Saturday.

The letter comes after Gallagher led a visit to Taiwan where he and a delegation of other lawmakers met with Taiwan officials like President Tsai Ing-wen and President-Elect Lai Ching-te.

The letter said that the lawmakers learned that U.S. troops stationed in Taiwan were not able to use Starshield despite the Pentagon's stipulation of global access: "Multiple sources have disclosed to the Committee that Starshield is inactive in and around Taiwan."

The letter requests that Musk provide the House committee with a briefing on its Taiwan operations by March 8.

Taiwan has been governing itself independently of China since the island split from the mainland during the 1949 civil war. China has said it still lays claim to Taiwan and has repeatedly