Two top officials of the Presidential Office yesterday denied media reports of conflicts within the National Security Council (NSC), saying that recent personnel adjustments were designed to improve its functions.
"There is no reshuffle or reorganization going on in the NSC. Those rumors are completely without truth," NSC Secretary-General Kang Ning-hsiang (
The resignation of NSC deputy secretary general Chang Jung-feng (
Kang, accompanied by Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
Kang said that when he read reports that NSC Deputy Secretary-General Antonio Chiang (
"Then I immediately called Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
Kang said that leaks themselves indicated there were some problems within the council that would have to be addressed.
Chiou said Kang's work was very difficult, primarily because the NSC was an old organization with special characteristics and because specious reports about it frequently surfaced in the media.
"On top of this, the NSC's annual budget is not even NT$150 million. It's a poor government agency and is even smaller than the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission," Chiou said.
Chiou and Kang once were opponents and had clashed when they were leaders of the opposition movement in the 1980s before the DPP was formed. Chiou, who then was a young democratic theorist and radical grassroots activist, attacked Kang for wanting to reform the country by joining the KMT-dominated system.
Kang mentioned the unpleasant experiences yesterday after Chiou spoke.
"I am moved to see that Chiou is defending me because he was in the past a vehement opponent and has criticized me severely over many decades," Kang said.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
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