On May 18, President Chen Shui-bian presided over the first National Security Meeting since the Legislative Yuan approved of the council as the president's advisory body on December 30, 1993.
The first draft of the 2006 National Security Report, prepared by the National Security Council, was reviewed in the meeting and will be finalized after the president's ratification.
In the meeting, the president said that Taiwan's national security should be put above the interests of the political parties and as a matter of course is not the extension of any particular governing power. Therefore, the president and his administration have designated "sustainable democracy" and "pursuit of dialogues and peace" as Taiwan's two major guidelines, which were also the essence of the 2006 National Security Report.
However, the issue of Taiwan's national security is not the only subject considered in the president's agenda. He said in the meeting that the five dimensions--national security, democratic reform, sustainable economy, social justice, and civil society--are inter-related.
And the fact that he invited Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng to the meeting, according to the president, signifies the dialogues between the Executive and the Legislative branches of the government, the ruling party and the opposition, and the governing and the governed.