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.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS