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.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
The nation’s usually punctual high-speed rail system yesterday was hit by major disruptions after all scheduled services were canceled and replaced with three hourly trains offering only non-reserved seating, affecting more than 200,000 passengers. Preliminary findings indicate the disruption was caused by a faulty power module in a track switch control cabinet, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said, adding that as a full system inspection could only be conducted after operations end for the day, a decision on whether normal service would resume today would be announced before the first train departs. During a routine inspection early yesterday, a switch signal abnormality
RSS