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.
SOFT TENNIS: Yu Kai-wen and Huang Shih-yuan narrowly defeated their Japanese rivals to capture Taiwan’s first gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya Yu Kai-wen (余凱文) and Huang Shih-yuan (黃詩媛) won Taiwan’s first gold of this year’s Asian Games, defeating a Japanese duo in a nail-biter in the soft tennis mixed doubles final in Nagoya, Japan, while Johnny Sun (孫家閎) won silver in wushu and Shih Cheng-chung (石政中) won bronze in men’s kumite. Yu and Huang narrowly defeated Japan’s Toshiki Uematsu and Rena Temma 5-4 (2-4, 5-3, 4-2, 1-4, 1-4, 4-0, 1-4, 4-1, 7-5) to give Taiwan its first gold in soft tennis mixed doubles at an Asian Games since 2018. Sun secured Taiwan’s first wushu medal at this year’s game, with a combined score
UNITY: Lai thanked the nations who spoke up for Taiwan, saying that democracies must stand together to face global authoritarian expansion Taiwan yesterday thanked eight European and Indo-Pacific countries for opposing unilateral changes to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait in a joint statement earlier this week, as well as three of Taiwan’s allies for speaking up for the nation’s participation in the UN at the body’s General Assembly in New York. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) welcomed the support and expressed his appreciation for the countries’ stance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Foreign ministers and senior representatives of Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea and the UK issued a statement on Tuesday
AT-RISK GROUPS: Of the accumulated 1,586 severe cases and 304 related deaths in this flu season, 65.8% were older people and 83.2% had chronic diseases, an official said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that 165 severe flu cases and 30 flu-related deaths were reported last week, the highest weekly numbers in this flu season, and that cases might continue to increase, urging people to take precautions. Medical visits for flu-like illnesses increased by 1.4 percent to 141,374 last week, with 11.8 percent being emergency visits, showing that the seasonal flu is still in its epidemic period, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to Monday, 165 severe flu cases and 30 flu-related deaths were confirmed, the highest weekly numbers
Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空工業) has finished production of the nation’s T-5 Brave Eagle (勇鷹) advanced jet trainers, with the final aircraft scheduled to be formally delivered at a ceremony on Thursday. The delivery of the trainer jets marks the end of the program, which dates back to 2017, with the first prototypes completed in 2019. Fifty-six of the 66 trainers had been delivered as of May. The Brave Eagle was developed and produced by AIDC and the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology. The program has provided a foundation for the development of a domestically produced next-generation primary trainer and
RSS