Taiwan is an excellent partner for Australia on cybersecurity issues, Australian Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Brendan Dowling said on Monday.
Dowling made the remarks during the Sydney Dialogue, an annual policy summit hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
This year, a Taiwanese delegation led by National Security Council adviser Lee Yuh-jye (李育杰) attended the event focusing on cybersecurity and emerging technology issues.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The summit featured industry experts, government officials and academics from 30 countries — including Taiwan, Australia, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Tonga, the UK and the US. Discussions centered on topics such as artificial intelligence (AI) development, hybrid threat management, digital infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region, economic resilience, digital innovation, democracy and disinformation.
As part of a session on designing technology for democracy, Lee and Dowling had an in-depth conversation on Taiwan’s position in AI supply chains and how to use technology to protect democracies from threats such as disinformation.
Dowling called Taiwan an excellent partner for Australia when it comes to cybersecurity issues due to its democracy, as well as its insistence that “cybersecurity is national security” amid a tense geopolitical environment.
Lee said that although The Economist has called Taiwan the “most dangerous place on Earth,” the country’s democracy has become more resilient in the face of wide-ranging threats, from natural disasters to incessant cyberattacks.
He also discussed how Taiwan’s tech industry prioritizes human rights in real-world applications, such as how social distancing apps deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic sought to protect user privacy.
Taiwan is also a vital link in AI, with key industry players such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Quanta Computer Inc, he said, adding that “Taiwan” cannot be spelled without “AI.”
Every country needs its own AI infrastructure, and cannot rely on others, Lee said, citing ChatGPT’s use of simplified Chinese characters and Baidu’s Ernie Bot as potential national security risks to Taiwan.
China could use AI programs to better understand Taiwan or leverage algorithms to influence Taiwanese society, he said.
Taiwan has developed its own large-scale language model, the Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine, he said.
To achieve AI sovereignty, Taiwan would continue to promote educational and technological initiatives, increasing its democratic resilience, he said.
Representative to Australia Douglas Hsu (徐佑典), Ministry of Digital Affairs Deputy Director for Cyber Security Cheng Shin-ming (鄭欣明), National Institute of Cyber Security Vice President Lin Ying-dar (林盈達) and Director of Cybersecurity Technology at the Institute for Information Industry Mattel Hsu (許建榮) also attended.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS