Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) yesterday said he would prioritize legislation to clarify the definition of being “at war,” and which government agencies are to be in charge when the nation comes under cyberattacks.
Taiwan needs to improve in such mechanisms, and both the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MDA) have stated that they are unsure who would be in charge of cyberattacks and defense if the nation is at war, he said.
The endeavor would involve many ministries and departments, Shen said, suggesting that the Executive Yuan take the lead and coordinate between government agencies while he helps set the overall direction and draft special laws.
Photo: Chen Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
Citing how NATO countries have established the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) to defend against Russian cyberattacks, Shen suggested that the Executive Yuan establish similar bodies to oversee all cyber warfare matters.
China is a threat to the entire world, but there has yet to be any country in Asia to establish a body similar to the CCDCOE, Shen said.
“If Taiwan takes the lead to establish the first, other nations will come and learn from us,” he said.
Such a center would imbue Taiwan with more excellent strategic value, as the world over would know that once Taiwan is at war, it would symbolize a net decrease in analytic teams to process Chinese cyberattacks.
Shen also urged that the MND and the MDA work together more closely.
Since its founding in 2022, the MDA has focused on measures to ensure network security and resilience during a time of war, but the ministry should also be working with the MND on fostering measures to combat cognitive warfare tactics, he said.
It would mean little if Taiwan retained network access during the war only to see the networks flooded with false information, he said.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday