Taiwan has held nearly 100 bilateral meetings with leaders of national security agencies from 45 different countries this year, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said today.
The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee invited Tsai and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness.
During the meeting, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇) raised concerns about whether Taiwan needs to further develop intelligence sharing with its allies in the first island chain.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The NSB uses various forms of strategic communication and intelligence sharing to stay aware of recent developments, including meeting with national security leaders from countries worldwide, Tsai said.
Through this communication, Taiwan gains an understanding of what countries are currently most concerned about regarding Indo-Pacific security, he said.
Based on these shared concerns, Taiwan and its allies develop a close-knit network of strategic cooperation and intelligence sharing, he added.
Lawmakers also expressed concern about whether China’s aggressive actions would shift toward nations friendly to Taiwan, as China on Monday imposed sanctions on former Japanese military leader Shigeru Iwasaki, who was appointed as a political advisor to Taiwan’s Cabinet in March.
China has often tried to repress or threaten people who align with Taiwan or support Taiwanese independence, Tsai said.
Looking at past cases, this usually has the opposite effect and only has symbolic meaning, as Taiwan’s partners usually do not care much about going to China, he said.
China’s actions this time would only cause friendly nations to speak up for Taiwan and express more support, Tsai said.
These countries would not make any concessions due to China’s pressure, but would unite to criticize China’s provocative actions, which threaten human rights and regional stability, he said.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS