President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday huddled with his senior security aids and high-ranking officials for a third round of meetings to prepare the way for the unprecedented National Security Report, which he plans on delivering to the public later this summer.
While officials attending the meeting were tight-lipped on the content discussed, it was believed that defense affairs and related issues were the centerpieces of the hours-long meeting yesterday afternoon.
"The meeting is simply a deliberation of drafts [presented by the National Security Council (NSC)]," said NSC Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
Regarding recent coverage by a local Chinese-language newspaper, which revealed partial content of the yet-to-be-publicized report, the NSC Secretary-General yesterday also expressed his disappointment.
"It is regrettable," he said, adding that the council will look into how partial content from the unfinished report got into the hands of the media.
Taking place at the Presidential Office, yesterday's meeting was the third of its kind convened by the president during the past three consecutive weeks.
Claiming that the government has an obligation to periodically, or at a time of importance, address the issue of national security to the people, Chen had previously noted that more meetings of the kind would be held in the near future on various topics before he "at an appropriate time, formally convenes a national security meeting and presents the National Security Report to the public."
According to Chiou, five meetings will be convened before the report is published.
The first meeting was held on June 16 during which finance and economic security were the primary topics discussed. A second round of the kind was subsequently held last week during which the issues of land conservation, disease control, ethnic recognition and disasters prevention were deliberated.
Following the meeting yesterday, it is expected that two subsequent rounds of meetings will be conducted which will focus on cross-strait and foreign affairs.
Chiou had earlier said that the president will later this summer deliver a formal report on national security to the public.
According to the National Security Council Secretary-General, the National Security Report -- the first of its kind to be present by the government in Taiwan -- will encompass five main areas including finance and economy, national defense, cross-strait affairs, diplomatic issues and land conservations.
Meeting attendees included Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), and a number of NSC officials.
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