The government has banned the use of Chinese information and communications products at all agencies as they could compromise Taiwan’s cybersecurity, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report presented yesterday at a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
Drones manufactured by Shenzhen-based DJI Technology Co (大疆創新) are capable of gathering private information from their users, as well as government agencies, the report said, citing a 2017 US Department of Homeland Security report.
News reports have said that products made by Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and its affiliate HiSilicon Technologies Co (海思半導體) are able to transmit user data back to the firms’ servers in China or use malware to take control of a user’s Web camera, the report said.
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“We have banned the use of Chinese information and communications products as they have been assessed and risk endangering national security,” it said.
The Military Information Asset Management Operational Regulations ban the ministry from procuring devices made in China that can send data via the Internet, it added.
In December 2020, the Executive Yuan began prohibiting the use of Chinese information and communications products by government agencies, including software, hardware and services, the report said.
Any procurement of products and services at the defense ministry must follow the guidelines and be inspected by an internal review department before procurement is complete, it said.
“In addition to the certificate of origin, agencies under the defense ministry must dissemble the devices to check if they contain Chinese-made components. Networks used by the military are regularly inspected to identify potential information security risks,” the report said.
The National Security Bureau said in a report that Lithuania, Belgium and other countries have over the past few years stated how Chinese smartphones can be used to illegally gather user information.
To safeguard national security, the US Federal Communications Commission banned the use of communications and surveillance products made by several Chinese companies, including Huawei, ZTE Corp (中興), Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co (杭州海康威視數字技術), Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co (浙江大華科技) and Shegzhen-based Hytera Communications Corp (海能達通訊), the bureau said.
During US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August, electronic advertisement boards in convenience stores and in the Taiwan Railways Administration’s Sintsoying Station were hacked to display messages critical of the visit, it said, adding that both used software made in China.
“We also found that Chinese information and communications products must link to their servers in China to update the operating systems. Beijing, on the other hand, can ask companies to hand over information of certain users or help it gather intelligence based on its National Intelligence Law and Cybersecurity Law,” it said, adding that these functions have threatened Taiwan’s information security.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated