An emergency-response mechanism activated on March 19 following the shooting of President Chen Shui-bian (
His remarks came during a breakfast meeting between People First Party (PFP) legislators and leading members of the government's national security apparatus.
Legislators asked the officials to explain why the national security mechanism was launched on March 19, the eve of the presidential election, when Chen was attacked in Tainan.
According to Huang Lai (黃磊), deputy director of the National Security Bureau (NSB), the bureau's regulations do not spell out what the national security mechanism requires it to do.
PFP Legislator Sheu Yuan-kuo (
Huang said NSB had an internal emergency-response mechanism to deal with crises, "but I think measures handling crises based on decisions jointly made by top agencies from both the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office can be generally regarded as part of the national security mechanism."
Representatives from the Ministry of National Defense said its regulations included no mention of a national security mechanism and that on March 19, the ministry received no order to launch such a mechanism.
PFP legislators including Chou Hsi-wei (
In response, Lin stressed that the launch of the national security mechanism was in accordance with the Constitution but that did not affect military personnel.
Secretary-General to the Presidential Office Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) further explained the mechanism after meeting with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) and his PFP counterpart Tsai Chung-hsiung (蔡鐘雄) yesterday afternoon.
"After the launch of the national security mechanism, chiefs from agencies dealing with cross-strait affairs, diplomacy, national defense and finance and economics have to have a meeting as soon as possible in order to monitor the activities of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and economic development," Chiou said.
Chiou said that the launch of the mechanism did not affect servicemen's ability to go home to vote on March 20.
According to Chiou, the mechanism had been used three times since Chen came to power: following the terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001; after the Bali bombing in 2002; and during the SARS outbreak last year.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS