TAIPEI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Taiwan is in talks with

Amazon ( AMZN ) about collaborating for the company's new Kuiper

broadband internet constellation of satellites, the island's

technology minister said on Tuesday, as the government seeks to

build communication resilience.

Taipei has been looking at plans to preserve communications

if China attacks, including satellites in medium and low Earth

orbit for internet services, similar to Ukraine's use of Elon

Musk's Starlink satellite broadband service.

China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own

territory and has been stepping up its military activities

around the island. The government in Taipei rejects Beijing's

sovereignty claims.

Speaking to reporters, Taiwan Technology and Science

Minister Wu Cheng-wen said the bandwidth for the island's

existing OneWeb satellite service was too small.

There are other Western companies Taiwan could work with,

including in Europe and Canada, he said, without giving names,

but said Amazon ( AMZN ) had the product that was most far along in its

development.

"Amazon's ( AMZN ) Kuiper is the most mature in the development stage

so far, so we are discussing at this moment whether its possible

to have a collaboration," Wu added, without elaborating.

Amazon ( AMZN ), which plans a network of more than 3,000 satellites

that will compete with SpaceX's Starlink, did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan has also been sending its own satellites into space

using rockets fired by foreign companies including Arianespace,

a joint venture of Airbus and Safran.

But the island wants to be able to use its own rockets, and

Wu said officials expect to make a decision around late March on

a launch pad location, probably along its far southeast coast

where the military has missile firing ranges.

It will then take about five years before the site is

operational, he added.