Claiming responsibility for keeping the nation informed on domestic and foreign threats to the country, President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) government will deliver an unprecedented formal report on national security to the public this summer.
The National Security Report, to be presented by the president, will encompass five areas, including finance and the economy, defense, cross-strait affairs, diplomatic matters and land conservation, National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) said yesterday, during a press conference held after a meeting of national security officials.
Yesterday's meeting, presided over by the president at the Presidential Office, focused primarily on topics relating to finance and the economy.
"The purpose of today's meeting is to discuss the contents of the National Security Report draft to be prepared by the National Security Council," Chen said during the meeting.
"There will be many more of this kind [of meeting] taking place in the near future to deliberate on all of these issues, and at an appropriate time I will formally convene a national-security meeting and present the National Security Report [to the public]," Chen said. "The government has the obligation to periodically or at times of importance present a National Security Report to the public."
Chen said the topics would include the economy, finance, energy, disease, population, information resources as well as issues of ethnicity and identification, which are "gradually becoming new security challenges to us."
"If we neglect unconventional threats while addressing national-security issues, they could result in deteriorating social order, worsening living standards and political and economic environments, or worse, impact on the country's long-term prosperity, its survival and its international competitiveness," Chen said.
Chiu said that the report, which the president plans to deliver this summer, will focus on feasible guidelines for policy over the next two to four years.
"The report aims to serve as a point of reference, but I will not touch upon the details on how policies should be mapped out," Chiu said. "[The report] will not infringe upon the authority of the Executive Yuan."
The National Security Report will not be written from a more conventional standpoint such as military threats, but will instead have a more comprehensive security perspective, Chiu said.
Chiu said the National Security Council would convene five meetings before the report is published.
"According to what is stated in the Constitution, the president will then convene a national-security meeting and deliver the National Security Report," Chiu said.
He added that it would be up to the president to decide how frequently the report is presented.
Attending the meeting yesterday were Vice President Annette Lu (
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