The Institute for National Defense and Security Research has invited international experts, including a former US ambassador and Australian defense minister, for its conference today to discuss Taiwan’s security amid the global security challenges posed by China’s rise.
Former US ambassador to UN Kelly Craft and former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Ann Payne are among the attendees at the event at the Grand Hyatt Taipei, the institute said in a statement.
The event would feature discussions on enhancing resilience against challenges to democracy, China’s long-term global strategy and the risks it represents to world security, and Taiwan’s significant role in global security, it said.
Screengrab from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research Web Site
Beijing’s weaponization of law and use of “gray zone” activities in the Taiwan Strait, the implications of the Gaza and Ukraine conflicts on emerging paradigms of modern warfare and maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region would also be discussed, the institute said.
The institute has invited policy experts from the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, the Philippines, France and the Czech Republic to take part in the conference, it said.
As the government think tank on security and defense matters, the institute hopes to facilitate discourse on threats to global security and coordinated actions toward defending peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
UNDERWATER DRONE
Separately, the Hui Lung uncrewed midget submarine on Tuesday and yesterday was seen navigating under its own power in the waters near Port of Suao (蘇澳) in Yunlin County in a rare glimpse of the secretive project.
Jointly developed by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and Lung Tech Shipbuilding, the Hui Lung underwater drone was nominally built as a demonstrator and test platform, but with obvious military potential.
The uncrewed midget sub was said to be 30m-long and have ‘a displacement of 100 tonnes.
Images obtained by a member of the public submitted to the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) showed two camera devices each on the bow and stern of the drone, which was partially covered in black textiles, possibly to conceal sensitive equipment.
The uncrewed midget submarine’s hull was painted white with no visible railing or aperture.
The project reportedly delivered this prototype last year, suggesting that the vessel’s acceptance trials have commenced.
GREAT POWER COMPETITION: Beijing views its military cooperation with Russia as a means to push back against the joint power of the US and its allies, an expert said A recent Sino-Russian joint air patrol conducted over the waters off Alaska was designed to counter the US military in the Pacific and demonstrated improved interoperability between Beijing’s and Moscow’s forces, a national security expert said. National Defense University associate professor Chen Yu-chen (陳育正) made the comment in an article published on Wednesday on the Web site of the Journal of the Chinese Communist Studies Institute. China and Russia sent four strategic bombers to patrol the waters of the northern Pacific and Bering Strait near Alaska in late June, one month after the two nations sent a combined flotilla of four warships
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
‘LEADERS’: The report highlighted C.C. Wei’s management at TSMC, Lisa Su’s decisionmaking at AMD and the ‘rock star’ status of Nvidia’s Huang Time magazine on Thursday announced its list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI), which included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) and AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰). The list is divided into four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Wei and Huang were named in the Leaders category. Other notable figures in the Leaders category included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Su was listed in the Innovators category. Time highlighted Wei’s
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi