The Executive Yuan has proposed budgeting NT$51.64 million (US$1.86 million) for information management and national security to augment computer system security and improve the safety of Internet connections, according to its fiscal 2022 budget.
The Executive Yuan’s Department of Information Management had proposed the budget to upgrade computers, and implement systems and fund general information security, said a source at the Executive Yuan, who asked to remain anonymous.
The budget would include an additional NT$7.81 million for national security and information security operations, the source said.
The sum is the Executive Yuan’s greatest expenditure for fiscal 2022, and most of it would be spent on systems maintenance and upgrades, the source said.
The Executive Yuan has also planned a digital upgrade program, which is expected to cost NT$71.1 billion, spread across five years, they said.
The Executive Yuan has allocated NT$37.8 million for consultation fees for technological development, which includes policy seminars, hiring people to review the development of certain technology, the management and inspection of projects, and hosting conferences to decide what technologies to develop, the source said.
The Executive Yuan has also earmarked NT$20.4 million to promote gender equality, including for hosting meetings to establish gender equality policies and legislation, reviewing mid to long-term projects and legislation, stepping up efforts to promote gender equality, putting into practice the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and increasing international participation and interaction, the source said.
The Executive Yuan has also set aside NT$41.92 million to fund the establishment of a planned ministry of digital development, which would involve the purchase of new equipment, preliminary analyses of key issues regarding digital development and efforts to communicate such policies to the public, the source said.
The Executive Yuan’s proposed budgets have yet to be approved by the Legislative Yuan, which began its latest session last week.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS