The National Security Council (NSC) yesterday rebutted the claims of a former consultant criticizing the national security system and claiming that the council would intervene in the upcoming elections, stating that the claims were unfounded and it was regrettable to hear such allegations.
Former NSC consultant York Chen (陳文政) wrote a column that appeared in the Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday alleging that the most recent personnel shuffle in the council not only put the national security system to shame, but would also lead to direct intervention in the upcoming elections.
The nation is scheduled to elect officials on seven different levels in one election at the end of the year.
Chen claimed the NSC’s functions centered around the council’s secretary-general, deputy secretary-general, its consultants and other sub-organizations, and served as the president’s advisors on all matters concerning national security.
The president’s trust is the prime source of the council’s authority and the make-up of the council can easily point in the direction of where the president is more concerned about national security, Chen said.
Using President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration as an example, Chen said the three times that the council reshuffled its staff saw a gradual transition from cross-strait experts to experts more focused on diplomacy, demonstrating the national security policy of first focusing on China, then the US.
The most recent reshuffle introduced more members with a background from the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau, tripling the total amount of consultants with an Investigation Bureau background when compared with the number of consultants with a background in national defense, Chen said.
Chen added that the thin line between national-security ethics and the neutrality of intelligence gathering had been threatened before, when former NSC secretary-general Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂) had been seen constantly visiting the Presidential Office when former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was in power.
The presence of so many consultants with Investigation Bureau backgrounds would also contribute to the Ma administration’s increasing disfavor, Chen said.
Chen, using former secretary-general Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) as an example, said that Tsai may have been forced to step down due to “political incorrectness” when making his “truthful” reports to the legislature of the dangers that China posed to Taiwan.
Tsai was a good civil servant to the very end, making truthful analyses of gathered information on China, but his leaving may have solidified the top-down leadership in the council from the president or the secretary-general, Chen said.
The NSC said Chen’s column was filled with erroneous information and was highly hypothetical in nature.
The council strictly adheres to the division of powers under the constitutional government and employs staff in accordance with the National Security Council Organization Act (國家安全會組織法), the council said.
According to the act, the council has one specially appointed secretary-general and five to seven consultants, the council said, adding that Chen’s allegations of the council employing nine to 11 administrative officials were erroneous.
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