The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday acknowledged the possibility that Chinese service sector businesses could use offices set up in Taiwan for espionage if the cross-strait service trade agreement is implemented.
“As cross-strait exchanges develop further, monitoring the activities of Chinese in Taiwan and their businesses may exceed the NSB’s work capacity in the future and pose a challenge for national security,” National Security Bureau Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday.
The bureau said that if the pact’s effects see it stretched too thin, an influx of Chinese service sector workers could be a national security risk, but added that it is working on a regulatory mechanism targeting “major, specific” individuals and organizations that could pose a threat to Taiwan.
The bureau also said it has conducted an item-by-item review of security-related issues in the 64 domestic service sectors that would be opened up to Chinese investment and competition.
“We plan to carry out more risk management studies, since the continuing expansion of cross-strait ties could compromise national security and create additional risk. My stance is that we carry out extensive risk analyses as we deepen exchanges with China,” Tsai said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said the bureau is concerned about the effects the cross-strait trade deal may have on Taiwan’s security, but has refrained from saying so for fear of contradicting President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
At yesterday’s meeting, Chiu asked if government officials know who owns the SF Express (順豐快遞) delivery service, which has started operating in Taiwan, and Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭) responded that the company is funded solely by a Hong Kong citizen.
Chiu replied that SF Express is owned by Wang Wei (王衛), who has applied for Chinese citizenship and became a Shenzhen City resident in 2012.
She added that in August last year, two state-run Chinese firms became shareholders in SF Express, effectively making the delivery company a Beijing-funded enterprise.
Cho insisted that the head of SF Express’ Taiwan branch is Wang’s wife, who is a Hong Kong citizen, to which Chiu said: “This is exactly what the public is worried about: China-funded businesses entering Taiwan disguised as Hong Kong-funded or domestic firms, while the government either turns a blind eye to or fails to control them.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a report that the NSB on April 11 joined the Investment Commission responsible for reviewing foreign investment projects.
The change allows NSB officials to participate in the review of all foreign investments, whereas before, this was the case only when Chinese investors were involved or when the bureau’s participation was deemed necessary, Cho said.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
RSS