President talks about security

Taipei Times: Mr. President, to what extent did the leak of the National Security Bureau's (NSB) classified documents in April have an impact on Taiwan's international intelligence network and cross-border intelligence cooperation?

Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁): The impact was immensely devastating, and the government is still trying to clean up the mess. But this also presented an opportunity to review national security and tighten up internal management. So overall there is a silver lining.

When I was a lawmaker, I had consistently pushed for policies regarding the institutionalization of the intelligence agencies.

What we really need to do is to place the national security system under the scrutiny of the Legislative Yuan and the media.

But unfortunately, the legislature has failed to do its job effectively, so I hope the Legislative Yuan will establish a committee that will supervise our intelligence organizations soon.

But the problem is that, at one time, when the Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍) incident first broke out, the public was very interested in matters related to national security, but now that the issue is out of the limelight, most people don't seem particularly concerned about security issues.

We should take this opportunity to establish a sound and transparent mechanism for the intelligence system and to safeguard our national security.

TT: How would a committee that is charged with overseeing the national security apparatus work?

Chen: The committee could be modeled on the intelligence committee in the US Congress, in which intelligence information regarding national security is classified into different categories and not all of the information is made available to the committee.

Some information is accessible only to the Speaker, some is accessible to both the Speaker and the committee chairman, and some to only a number of congressmen, but not all of the committee members.

The operation should be strictly governed by the rule of confidentiality. Anyone who violates the rule is liable to lawsuits or may even jeopardize his or her position. That is, there should be an equivalence of rights and obligations.

TT: Do you worry about future NSB leaks?

Chen: After the NSB incident, various political parties agreed to set up a committee to supervise the intelligence bureau. But as soon as the media hype faded, people's attention shifted. Only when another incident takes place will people refocus their attention on this subject and discuss the establishment of a committee.

This is how things are handled in Taiwan.

Authorities in the Legislative Yuan are now processing related bills and I hope they will finish the job as soon as possible.

TT: You said a few days ago that after concluding your visit to Africa, you would form a legislative majority alliance, often referred to as the "national alliance for stability." But later you said the formation of the alliance might not be necessary. Have you changed your mind?

Chen: I am not hesitant in any way, and there is no time to wait. The formation of a majority alliance in the legislature is a thing that must be done. I have discussed this issue with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and decided that we must go ahead with this. Our goal is "to pursue peace through war."

We must have strength before we sit down and talk to the opposition parties. Over the past six months, the opposition alliance has totally rejected any possibility of rational public policy debate.