Claiming responsibility for keeping the nation informed on domestic and foreign threats to the country, President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) government will deliver an unprecedented formal report on national security to the public this summer.
The National Security Report, to be presented by the president, will encompass five areas, including finance and the economy, defense, cross-strait affairs, diplomatic matters and land conservation, National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) said yesterday, during a press conference held after a meeting of national security officials.
Yesterday's meeting, presided over by the president at the Presidential Office, focused primarily on topics relating to finance and the economy.
"The purpose of today's meeting is to discuss the contents of the National Security Report draft to be prepared by the National Security Council," Chen said during the meeting.
"There will be many more of this kind [of meeting] taking place in the near future to deliberate on all of these issues, and at an appropriate time I will formally convene a national-security meeting and present the National Security Report [to the public]," Chen said. "The government has the obligation to periodically or at times of importance present a National Security Report to the public."
Chen said the topics would include the economy, finance, energy, disease, population, information resources as well as issues of ethnicity and identification, which are "gradually becoming new security challenges to us."
"If we neglect unconventional threats while addressing national-security issues, they could result in deteriorating social order, worsening living standards and political and economic environments, or worse, impact on the country's long-term prosperity, its survival and its international competitiveness," Chen said.
Chiu said that the report, which the president plans to deliver this summer, will focus on feasible guidelines for policy over the next two to four years.
"The report aims to serve as a point of reference, but I will not touch upon the details on how policies should be mapped out," Chiu said. "[The report] will not infringe upon the authority of the Executive Yuan."
The National Security Report will not be written from a more conventional standpoint such as military threats, but will instead have a more comprehensive security perspective, Chiu said.
Chiu said the National Security Council would convene five meetings before the report is published.
"According to what is stated in the Constitution, the president will then convene a national-security meeting and deliver the National Security Report," Chiu said.
He added that it would be up to the president to decide how frequently the report is presented.
Attending the meeting yesterday were Vice President Annette Lu (
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
RSS