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Telecoms are
insecure: Ma adviser
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: Richard Lee wrote in
the ‘United Daily News’ yesterday that government use of foreign telecoms opened
the nation to spying
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Senior adviser to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) Richard Lee (李家同) yesterday said
the nation should consider using only Taiwanese communications systems and
software in the government sector for the sake of national security.
“I sincerely hope that the government promotes the purchase of Taiwanese
products in view of national security concerns,” Lee said. “I hope the
government will devise a plan to develop our own communications systems and
software to be used at the very least at the Ministry of National Defense, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office. I
say we can definitely do it. The only problem is whether the government has the
resolution as well as the ambition to do so.”
One of the nation’s most outspoken critics on government policy, Lee published
his opinions in a letter to the editor of the Chinese-language United Daily News
yesterday. In his letter, Lee cited a recent report by the US House of
Representatives Intelligence Committee recommending that the US avoid using
telecommunications equipment manufactured by China’s Huawei Technologies (華為技術)
and ZTE Inc (中興通訊) because their equipment could be used to spy on the US,
adding that the committee came to that conclusion after a year-long
investigation.
Lee added that the Canadian government had issued a similar statement without
mentioning any specific firms, but which emphasized that it is building a
high-security telecoms system to avoid exposure to foreign firms that pose a
threat to national security.
“If the government uses telecommunications equipment made by other countries, we
are not sure if these other countries could use the opportunity to spy on us,”
he said.
Lee said most of the communications software used in Taiwan is purchased from
other countries and not all are exclusively within the government’s control.
The government makes extensive use of operating systems from a certain US firm
and that firm has told Taipei that it is connected to its telecommunications
network, he said.
Lee said that the fact the public is constantly being informed that the system
needs to be updated shows that the company knows every move the government is
making.
“What I am concerned about is that the government appears to have no sense of
urgency over this issue and even specified that some official documents must be
made public through a certain operating system that would make it harder for us
to have control over our own government system,” he added.
Lee said that the government could at least try using Taiwanese products in the
military, so that telecommunications system operators could have chance to
develop them further.
“Our government does not seem to realize that we have already developed some of
the finest telecommunications systems and software,” he said. “We should pay
attention to our own high-tech products.”
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