The Presidential Office and the National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday categorically denied media reports that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has systematically provided financial aid for overseas Chinese dissidents over the past four years.
NSB Deputy Director Huang Lai (黃磊) held a press conference to dismiss as fake the three "classified documents" Beijing claimed to have obtained from his agency and the Military Intelligence Bureau.
"I urge our people not to be misled by these documents and reports," Huang said.
Photo images of the three documents, which allegedly record details of when and how the DPP government gave money to overseas Chinese democracy activists, appeared in the Chinese-language China Times newspaper yesterday.
The newspaper said the documents were provided by China's Ministry of State Security, which accused President Chen Shui-bian's (
Accusing the Beijing authorities of using Taiwan's media outlets to smear the NSB, Huang said China has been attempting to link overseas Chinese dissidents with Taiwan's pro-independence activists in order to reduce the dissidents' influence at home.
According to the documents, overseas Chinese activists sponsored by the DPP government included Wang Dan (
Government Information Office Director-General and former Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Straits Exchange Foundation Deputy Secretary-General Yen Wan-ching (顏萬進) and former NSB Director Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲) were among the Taiwanese officials involved in the financial aid program, according to the documents.
One document said Yen met with Wang Dan and Wang Juntao in Boston in 2001 to discuss the aid. After the meeting, Yen allegedly sent a report to the NSB on Sept. 11, 2001, which was signed by Ting.
Ting, responding to the media reports, said he became the secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC) in August 2001.
"As NSC head, it is impossible for me to sign any letters presented to the NSB," Ting said, adding he was in an emergency meeting at the Presidential Office on Sept. 11, 2001, to discuss how to react to the terrorist attacks in the US.
"The authenticity of the documents is highly questionable," Ting said.
Yen insisted yesterday the documents were "absolutely manufactured" and questioned Beijing's motives in publicizing them.
One characteristic of the documents suggested it is possible the papers might be faked: The papers contained simplified Chinese characters, which are not used in government correspondence in Taiwan. Official letters here use traditional Chinese characters.
Wang Dan, who is now in Canada, questioned Beijing's motivations in releasing the documents just a week ahead of the 15th anniversary of the Tiananment Square bloodshed.
Wang Dan dismissed Beijing's allegations of Taiwan's financial aid for him and his friends as "completely groundless."
"Apparently Beijing wants to portray all overseas Chinese democracy activists as spies for Taiwan," he added.
Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Su Tseng-chang (
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS