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.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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