National Security Council convenes meeting in response to developments in Iran
In order to effectively respond to any possible impacts of the latest developments in Iran, the National Security Council (NSC) convened a national security meeting with senior officials of cabinet-level agencies at noon on January 8. Meeting participants learned about and assessed developments in the situation and all agencies present engaged in discussions on the stock and foreign exchange markets, energy supply, contacting and protecting overseas Taiwanese citizens, and security dynamics in the Taiwan Strait. Meeting participants then drew up response measures for all possible future developments.
Presidential Office Spokesperson Alex Huang (黃重諺) stated that the situation in Iran has intensified over the past days, and the NSC was convening a national security meeting with senior officials of cabinet-level agencies, formally activating national security mechanisms, and closely monitoring the latest developments at the instruction of President Tsai Ing-wen. Spokesperson Huang stated that during today's meeting, the heads of each government agency held productive discussions on the current situation, assessed possible future developments, and related agencies preemptively developed response plans for all possible outcomes in regard to regional security dynamics, overall energy supply, and contacting and protecting Taiwanese citizens in the Middle East. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) would closely follow security dynamics in the Taiwan Strait, he continued, to ensure cross-strait peace. After the meeting, a report was presented to President Tsai.
The meeting was presided over by NSC Secretary-General David T. Lee (李大維) and lasted about 70 minutes. The attendees included Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-Tong (陳明通), National Security Bureau Director-General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正), MND Vice Minister Chang Che-ping (張哲平), Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Wen-sheng (Vincent) Tseng (曾文生), Finance Administrative Deputy Minister Juan Ching-hwa (阮清華), Financial Supervisory Commission Vice Chairman Chang Chuang-chang (張傳章), Central Bank Deputy Governor Yen Tzung-ta (嚴宗大), NSC Advisors Shih Jun-Ji (施俊吉), Fu Don-cheng (傅棟成) and Chen Chun-lin (陳俊麟), and NSC Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥).