Taiwan is an excellent partner for Australia on cybersecurity issues, Australian Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Brendan Dowling said on Monday.
Dowling made the remarks during the Sydney Dialogue, an annual policy summit hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
This year, a Taiwanese delegation led by National Security Council adviser Lee Yuh-jye (李育杰) attended the event focusing on cybersecurity and emerging technology issues.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The summit featured industry experts, government officials and academics from 30 countries — including Taiwan, Australia, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Tonga, the UK and the US. Discussions centered on topics such as artificial intelligence (AI) development, hybrid threat management, digital infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region, economic resilience, digital innovation, democracy and disinformation.
As part of a session on designing technology for democracy, Lee and Dowling had an in-depth conversation on Taiwan’s position in AI supply chains and how to use technology to protect democracies from threats such as disinformation.
Dowling called Taiwan an excellent partner for Australia when it comes to cybersecurity issues due to its democracy, as well as its insistence that “cybersecurity is national security” amid a tense geopolitical environment.
Lee said that although The Economist has called Taiwan the “most dangerous place on Earth,” the country’s democracy has become more resilient in the face of wide-ranging threats, from natural disasters to incessant cyberattacks.
He also discussed how Taiwan’s tech industry prioritizes human rights in real-world applications, such as how social distancing apps deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic sought to protect user privacy.
Taiwan is also a vital link in AI, with key industry players such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Quanta Computer Inc, he said, adding that “Taiwan” cannot be spelled without “AI.”
Every country needs its own AI infrastructure, and cannot rely on others, Lee said, citing ChatGPT’s use of simplified Chinese characters and Baidu’s Ernie Bot as potential national security risks to Taiwan.
China could use AI programs to better understand Taiwan or leverage algorithms to influence Taiwanese society, he said.
Taiwan has developed its own large-scale language model, the Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine, he said.
To achieve AI sovereignty, Taiwan would continue to promote educational and technological initiatives, increasing its democratic resilience, he said.
Representative to Australia Douglas Hsu (徐佑典), Ministry of Digital Affairs Deputy Director for Cyber Security Cheng Shin-ming (鄭欣明), National Institute of Cyber Security Vice President Lin Ying-dar (林盈達) and Director of Cybersecurity Technology at the Institute for Information Industry Mattel Hsu (許建榮) also attended.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS