President Lai to host national security briefing with opposition leaders

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) will host a closed-door national security briefing for opposition party leaders on Wednesday, the Presidential Office said Monday.

This will be the first time Lai will convene officials from the Ministry of National Defense (MND), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and National Security Bureau (NSB) to brief major opposition party leaders on national security issues.

According to Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧), the morning briefing is intended to help opposition leaders "understand the major threats facing the nation" and related policies.

The briefing -- which will be conducted entirely behind closed doors due to what Kuo said is the highly sensitive nature of the content -- is also being held to "ensure the country is united across party lines in the face of various challenges."

According to Kuo, the meeting will include four reports.

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The first, delivered by the MND, will focus on China's military expansion and Taiwan's military response, while the second report by MOFA will cover global challenges and Taiwan's diplomatic strategy.

Next, the MAC -- which handles relations with China from Taiwan's side -- will report on current developments in China and their implications for cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

Finally, the NSB will report on threats stemming from China's hybrid warfare and international responses to them.

The meeting schedule includes a general discussion period to facilitate dialogue among ruling and opposition party leaders, Kuo said.

Kuo said the briefing was proposed by Lai on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration on May 20 this year as part of his call for cross-party consultations on national affairs.

The call for unity comes as Lai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which he chairs, and local civic groups have mounted campaigns to recall more than 30 of the opposition Kuomintang's (KMT) lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan.

The DPP, which had a clear legislative majority from 2016 to 2024, has 51 seats in the 113-seat body, while the opposition KMT and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) control the other 62.

Though Kuo did not specify which opposition leaders were being invited, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) were likely the leaders being referred to.

Neither Chu nor Huang had given firm commitments to attend as of Monday evening.