Prague-based think tank the European Values Center for Security Policy on Tuesday said that it would open an office in Taipei as part of a program focusing on Chinese influence operations, even as Taiwan drew criticism for allegedly financing the plan.
The center revealed its plan to establish a footing in Taiwan during the Stratcom Summit in November last year, which was also attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) amid warming Taipei-Prague ties.
The planned Taipei office would open in the second half of the year as part of the think tank’s Red Watch Program, which focuses on Chinese influence operations, the center said in a news release on Tuesday.
Photo: Screen grab from the Czech Senate Web site
Representative to the Czech Republic Ke Liang-ruey (柯良叡) signed a partnership agreement with the center regarding the Taiwanese government backing the opening of the office, the center added.
“Taiwanese institutions have much to say about Chinese interference activities and how to deal with them. They have studied and resisted the Chinese communist regime for decades, which is something that Europeans need to learn as well,” center director Jakub Janda was quoted as saying in the news release.
Richard Kraemer, who would head the Taipei office, joined the center last year as senior analyst for the Western Balkans and is president of the US-Europe Alliance’s board, it said.
The center, established in 2005, has 24 employees and is one of the largest non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focused on foreign interference in Europe, the center added.
While the central government has welcomed quality NGOs to establish local offices, it would be unusual for it to sign such an agreement with an organization.
Separately, a source familiar with the matter said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would subsidize the center, including the salaries of its personnel in Taiwan.
In the 2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, the center only ranked No. 118 out of 141 organizations in western Europe, while the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy ranked ninth in Southeast Asia, the person said on condition of anonymity.
If the ministry courts a foreign think tank with “dollar diplomacy,” it is questionable whether the think tank would produce credible reports, the person added.
Asked for comment, the ministry said that it needed time to deliberate over the matter. It had yet to respond as of press time last night.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
UNITED: The premier said Trump’s tariff comments provided a great opportunity for the private and public sectors to come together to maintain the nation’s chip advantage The government is considering ways to assist the nation’s semiconductor industry or hosting collaborative projects with the private sector after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips exported to the US, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Trump on Monday told Republican members of the US Congress about plans to impose sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, steel, aluminum, copper and pharmaceuticals “in the very near future.” “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said at the Republican Issues Conference in Miami, Florida. “They
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
RSS