TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan Western Asia Forum on Regional Security and Transnational Crime launched on Tuesday (Nov. 12) focuses on a joint effort to counteract Chinese meddling in the internal affairs of other countries.
The event, co-organized by the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seeks to foster cooperation on judicial assistance among regional players to better combat cross-border crime. The forum includes the participation of 172 law enforcement officials and academics from 47 countries.
According to the Investigation Bureau, Communist China is engaging in a campaign to interfere with academic freedom, manipulate media, meddle with elections, and infiltrate the political circles of other states. Much of the seminar will be dedicated to developing tactics under the "free and open Indo-Pacific" strategy to address threats posed by Beijing as it exerts its sharp power.
Taiwan will continue to safeguard regional peace and fight crime without sacrificing human rights, remarked Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) during the opening address. The island will not back down even when confronted with multiple diplomatic conundrums, he added.
Justice Minister Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) also made the case for a coordinated response to fake news spread by external forces. With the presidential election approaching, it has become urgent to deal with disinformation attacks and activities that have the potential to undermine social order, he stressed.