Lai to launch three special councils to meet new challenges: Source

Taipei, June 18 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) is scheduled to announce on Wednesday the establishment of three special councils to address the latest challenges Taiwan faces in the areas of climate change, healthcare and all-out defense, a Presidential Office source told CNA Tuesday.

The three ad hoc councils, to be listed under the Presidential Office, will be presided over by Lai himself, according to the unnamed source.

Each council will be headed by one convener, a CEO, with an undetermined number of council members and advisors. Its members will be made up of representatives from government, industry and academia, with one meeting to be held every three months, according to the source.

The forming of the councils is an official response from Lai's administration to the latest global challenges in those areas and against the backdrop of strong support for Taiwan from countries around the world, including the G7 and European Parliament, the source said, without elaborating.

Also, at the just-concluded Computex 2024 which took place in Taipei from June 4-7, a number of world leading AI tech giants jointly expressed their vision on the industry's future, with Taiwan expected to play a major role, the source added.

Forming such special councils is not unusual in other democracies, including the United States and Japan. For instance, President Joe Biden established a White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience in 2023 to strengthen the enduring resilience of America's supply chains.

Late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also announced the establishment of a National Security Council in December 2013 to provide a forum for strategic discussions on various national security issues on a regular basis, under the prime minister's leadership, according to the source.

Lai will officially announce the three new councils at a Wednesday morning press event set to be joined by Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Secretary-General to the President Pan Men-an (潘孟安) and National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), the source said.

During the press event, Lai will also address the challenges his administration faces one month since his inauguration, including Chinese military drills and the passage of bills enhancing the oversight power of the Legislative Yuan that led to widespread protests, among others.

As commander-in-chief, it is Lai's responsibility to report to the nation on how his administration is addressing these challenges from within and outside and to reassure the public that Taiwan has strong democratic resilience and the ability to deal with them, the source said.