US increases military aid and sets up senior integration group for Taiwan

US increases military aid and sets up senior integration group for Taiwan

2024-06-04

China has continued to send its own airplanes, warships, and coast guard vessels into Taiwanese waters and airspace. In addition, reports say there might be as many as 100,000 fifth column spies lurking within Taiwan. To counter Chinese military harassment, the U.S. has set up a senior integration group for Taiwan, and the 2025 House Budget will also be providing US$500 million to strengthen Taiwan’s deterrence.

China’s continued harassment of Taiwanese territory remains unabated: Taiwan’s defense ministry has detected numerous Chinese airplanes, warships, and coast guard vessels in the Taiwan Strait. But Taiwan is not alone; the U.S. is seeking to help Taiwan both financially and tactically. The 2025 House Budget includes military aid provisions for the island nation, and in late 2022 the Pentagon formed the senior integration group for Taiwan in order to increase the efficiency and integration of military aid sent to Taiwan. The secretive group is the first of its kind, as the Pentagon has never set up a unit like this for a non-NATO ally.

Chen Kuan-ting
DPP lawmaker
This senior integration group is focused on Taiwan. In the future it’ll primarily be involved in integration, which is to say that it’ll especially focus on weapons sales as well as coordinating with procurement tasks in order to make sure the weapons for different military branches arrive in Taiwan according to schedule. This will ensure that in the future Taiwan will be able to immediately acquire the latest weapons, equipment, and resources. Senior officials and senior officers will be coordinating together, which is something we’re very excited to see happening.

The Fiscal Year 2025 bill passed by the United States’ House Appropriations Committee will provide Taiwan with US$500 million in foreign military financing to strengthen the island nation’s deterrence.

Also not abating is rumors that there is a fifth column lurking within Taiwan. If a war breaks out, it’s believed that there may be as many as 100,000 high-risk bad actors located within Taiwan that will seek to damage and destroy critical infrastructure, which includes the facilities of Taipower and state-owned petrochemical company CPC as well as reservoirs, hospitals, and banks. Both sides of the political aisle are calling on national security agencies to establish risk assessment standards in order to bring the possible extent of damage to an absolute minimum.

Puma Shen
DPP lawmaker
You don’t know where they are when a war hasn’t broken out. The most important aspect isn’t pointing out who could be a fifth columnist; instead it’s taking stock of which people are a higher risk. China likes to use organized methods, and when it comes to organizations of course this includes different types of religious groups and criminal syndicates, which people typically refer to as the underworld.

In addition to certain organizations, temples, and criminal groups, Shen also pointed out that lawmakers are part of these high-risk groups. Taiwan is partnering up with the United States and other democratic allies to counter China, and so this means internally Taiwan needs to be on guard for spies operating within its own borders.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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首次! 傳五角大廈設"台灣秘密小組"加速武器交付

2024-06-04

中國不放棄武力犯台，在戰時更可能指揮潛伏在台的"第五縱隊"，對國內關鍵基礎設施進行破壞癱瘓。熟稔兩岸情勢的官員更透露，估算第五縱隊潛伏人數可能高達十萬。而美國近來加強對台軍事援助，不只眾議院提案要提供台灣五億美元軍援、強化台灣嚇阻力，更傳出五角大廈，設立"台灣秘密小組"，加速武器交付。

中國對台侵擾沒停歇，國防部持續在台海周邊偵獲共機、共艦及海警船。不過，美國國防部近期也加大對台軍事援助，傳出五角大廈在2022年底，成立"高級整合秘密小組”，加速對台軍援效率和協調性，這也是五角大廈史上首次，替非戰爭夥伴，使用該模式。

[[立委(民) 陳冠廷]]
“這個高級整合小組專門針對台灣的部分，它之後主要是整合，特別是把軍購，還有採購的協調，各個不同軍種，確保抵達，運抵台灣的武器，能夠按時如期抵達。確保台灣未來能夠得到最新，最即時的武器設備跟資源，由資深的官員資深的辦公室，來做橫向整合，對此我們是非常樂見其成。”

美國聯邦眾議院撥款委員會也提案2025預算法案，主張提供台灣5億美元的外國軍事融資，用來強化台灣嚇阻力。

如今還傳出，潛伏在台的"第五縱隊"，高風險人數可能高達十萬，在戰時鎖定國內像是台電、中油、水庫、醫院、銀行等關鍵基礎設施進行破壞，各方呼籲國安單位，應該盡速研議建立風險標準、把傷害降到最低。

[[立委(民) 沈伯洋]]
“不到戰爭的時候，你也不知道他在哪裡，最重要的不是說，指出誰是第五縱隊，而是必須要盤點，哪一些人是風險比較高的。中國喜歡以組織型的方式來做接觸，組織的話當然包含各式各樣宗教，組織犯罪，就是所謂大家俗稱的黑道。”

除了特定組織、宮廟、黑道，沈伯洋更指出"立委"也是高風險族群。台灣對外與美國等民主盟友合作抗中，內部更要防範，內應、間諜滲透。

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Who would’ve thought? I’m just so happy because I never would’ve guessed he’d tell everybody about me. Every time he comes he speaks to me in Taiwanese. Maybe it’s that when he’s abroad he doesn’t get much of a chance to eat fruit like this, and so that’s why he thinks Taiwan’s fruit is super delicious.

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Jensen Huang
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I think I was 4 and a half years old. I used to love going to the night market because I just love watching people. My parents used to take us to the night market, where we’d get oyster egg omelets. My face, you guys might see that I have a large scar on my face. My face was cut because somebody was washing their knife, and I was a little kid; it’s so deep because of that. I still love going to the night market.

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Speaking fluent English, she gives a presentation about rhinos. This is Lin Yu-ching, winner of the “Zookeeper Junior” competition’s English individual category.

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Lin Yu-ching
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I practiced with her many times, nearly 20 times. She participated in the first-grade Mandarin Chinese and English groups. She talked about giraffes for the Mandarin Chinese category, and for the English category, she introduced eagles. It took us a long time to prepare for this competition.

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The number of entries in the English category has increased a lot. We’ve added a junior high school group. We also saw a lot more creativity this year. Children can learn about animals and promote the importance of biodiversity and animal conservation through visual expression, creativity, and performance.

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TSMC Chair Mark Liu arrives to rapturous applause from shareholders. After taking over from Morris Chang in 2018, Liu is now set to retire, making Tuesday’s annual shareholders’ meeting his last as company chair.

Mark Liu
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I would like to extend every shareholder my gratitude for your unwavering support of TSMC this year. Thanks to you, TSMC’s stock price has grown so much. Today, we can take a moment to relax.

Liu appeared calm at his last shareholders’ meeting, opening up the floor to questions and accepting them all. Some shareholders asked him to share some of his wisdom with the world.

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A tall building with mottled walls. Inside, all the lights are off and the inner courtyard is covered with many layers of safety nets. It’s an unsettling atmosphere inside Xining Public Housing complex in Taipei’s Wanhua District. The building has the nickname “Haunted Towers.”

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Even the dog is scared of it! His legs shake. We always pray for peace in this building at Ghost Festival.

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Xining Public Housing was completed in 1982. Over the last 42 years it has been the site of more than 30 deaths from unnatural causes. Now the “Haunted Towers” are about to be officially consigned to history.

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