A DPP lawmaker yesterday announced the launch of Taiwan's first-ever bilingual defense magazine, Taiwan Defense Affairs (TDA).
The bilingual quarterly will include articles in both Chinese and English written by defense specialists from Taiwan and abroad. TDA publisher Michael Tsai (蔡明憲), a DPP lawmaker, expressed his wish that the magazine would help to contribute in a broader way to the transparency of military information and affairs.
"I also hope the TDA will help the international community better understand Taiwan in respect to our views on cross-strait relations and national security issues," Tsai said.
Tsai made his remarks yesterday at a cocktail party at the legislature marking the inauguration of TDA.
The launching of the magazine was backed by Vice Premier Lai In-jaw (
"Tsai's publication of TDA is a positive response to the government's call for building a combined military and civil defense mechanism," Lai said.
Wu said he welcomed any advice Tsai and his magazine could offer to the military on defense affairs.
"Following the passage early this year of the landmark defense law and organizational law for the Ministry of National Defense, the military has been engaged in organizational restructuring," Wu said. "We need advice on it."
National Defense University vice president Lieutenant General Chang Chu-hsun (張鑄勳) also praised TDA, saying the content of the inaugural issue was very good, but he was reserved in his view on the future development of the magazine.
"The future development of TDA will have a lot to do with its contributors. We all know that there are not many military specialists in Taiwan," Chang told the Taipei Times.
In view of the shortage of military specialists in the country, TDA will seek a steady contribution of articles from foreign experts.
In its inaugural issue, TDA includes 11 articles on defense issues, an interview with defense minister Wu, as well as excerpts of President Chen Shui-bian's (
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