The National Security Bureau correctly forecasted former Chinese President Jiang Zemin's (
Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) chief of staff, was responding to a newspaper report that the NSB failed to predict Jiang's voluntary relinquishment of his last major post at a plenum of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee on Sunday. The report claimed that the failure signaled problems in Taiwan's China-related intelligence work.
"The report was not true," Su said, adding that Chen had been informed of the possibility of Jiang turning over the top People's Liberation Army post to incumbent President Hu Jintao (
Su said the Presidential Office has drafted various response plans based on the NSB forecast.
He further said the NSB has long excelled in China-related intelligence operations. "This is why our intelligence reports have consistently received high recognition from many of our intelligence partners," he added.
He acknowledged, however, that the NSB is now in a difficult situation.
"On the one hand, it must cope with the even tougher international situation. On the other, it has to deal with different domestic opinions following Taiwan's democratization," he said.
According to Su, Chen has many channels through which he gets information or intelligence about the latest political, military and social developments on China.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
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