Officials from the US, Japan and Sweden yesterday joined their Taiwanese counterparts for a workshop in Taipei on tackling disinformation, with some noting its rampant spread in Taiwan in the run-up to the presidential and legislative elections in January.
The two-day Defending Democracy through Promoting Media Literacy workshop is the second held under the Taiwan-US Global Cooperation Training Framework.
This year it was also cosponsored by Japan and Sweden.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Addressing the opening ceremony, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scott Busby, who is leading the US delegation to the workshop, praised Taiwan for its commitment to universally accepted human rights and democratic principles, including the fundamental freedoms of speech, religion, press, association and peaceful assembly.
These freedoms must be vigorously protected throughout the entire Indo-Pacific region, including in Hong Kong, he said.
“Taiwan’s 2020 elections are only a few months away, and China once again seeks to use disinformation to undermine the vote, divide the people, and sow seeds of doubt in democratic systems” through numerous channels, he said.
“Taiwan is also on the front line of this battle and faces the same challenge, albeit from a more determined opponent,” American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said.
The US and other nations have much to learn from Taiwan about how to marshal academic, policy and technical resources to confront that kind of external pressure, he said, highlighting the need to help citizens become “discerning consumers” of media reports.
Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Deputy Representative Shigehiro Nishiumi called for a balanced approach to tackling the issues of disinformation while protecting freedom of expression, which is the “very foundation of democracy.”
Swedish Trade and Invest Council Representative Hakan Jevrell said people know that many actors use information to affect their behavior, which can be as harmless as trying to influence consumers to buy certain goods, but authoritarian states are using the tools to undermine democracy.
“We must be aware and act ... and continue educating ourselves and vaccinate ourselves against harmful information,” he said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) reaffirmed Taiwan’s determination to safeguard its democracy, saying that dealing with false information is more important than ever when holding presidential elections.
The workshop, which is being held at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, is cohosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, AIT’s Taipei office, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, the Swedish Trade and Invest Council, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao
RSS