MJIB Held Taiwan-Western Asia & Africa Forum on Regional Security and Transnational Crime, Law Enforcement Officials from 38 Countries Participate

        On November 1, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) jointly held the 2023 Taiwan-Western Asia & Africa Forum on Regional Security and Transnational Crime (TWAF), the highest-level international law enforcement and security conference in Taiwan, at The Howard Plaza Hotel Taipei. A total of 250 judges, law enforcement officials, renowned experts, and think tank scholars from 38 countries came to Taiwan to attend the conference and deliver their reports.

        Premier of the Executive Yuan, Dr. Chen Chien-Jen, who was invited to deliver an opening speech at the conference, said that disinformation campaigns are currently the biggest threat to the development of democracies, and that Taiwan has topped the list of countries most affected by foreign disinformation for ten consecutive years. Therefore, the Executive Yuan has established a security net based on four approaches—identifying disinformation, debunking disinformation, combating the dissemination of disinformation, and punishing the perpetrators of disinformation. The Executive Yuan is committed to fighting disinformation through public-private cooperation to raise people’s awareness and prevent potential perpetrators from dividing public opinion.

        In his opening speech, Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-Hsiang pointed out that cybercrime is the most widespread, insidious, and lucrative among all new forms of crime. In order to effectively detect new crime patterns, international cooperation between law enforcement agencies in countries around the world has become increasingly important. Law enforcement officials need to improve their digital technology skills and utilize technology-enabled investigative methods to curb the ever-changing landscape of cybercrime and effectively bring criminals to justice.

        MJIB Director General, Wang Chun-Li emphasized that the bureau will continue to strengthen its cooperation with its counterparts from like-minded countries to combat information security threats. In addition, by promoting the signing of memoranda of understanding with counterpart law enforcement agencies from various countries or international organizations on joint efforts in fighting crime, information security protection, and personnel training, the bureau hopes to gradually build comprehensive partnerships and deepen international cooperation.

        This year marked the sixth time the MJIB organized the biennial TWAF, which focused on the strengths and weaknesses of Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain in the context of geopolitics and addressed the global crisis caused by information security threats from authoritarian powers. The conference was attended by senior law enforcement officials, experts, and scholars from the United States, African countries, South Korea, Malaysia, Australia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others, including Mr. Tsai Ming-Yen, director general of the National Security Bureau, Prof. Kristy Hsu, director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, Dr. Richard P. Cronin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center, a think tank based in Washington D.C., Dr. Bassam Muhammad al-Talaheen, a judge at the Court of Appeal in Amman, Jordan, and Professor Olaotse John Kole, acting executive dean of the College of Law at the University of South Africa. Other law enforcement agencies such as the Institute for National Security Strategy of South Korean, National Bureau of Investigation of the Philippines, the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States, the Australian Federal Police, the Special Branch of the Royal Malaysian Police, and the Information & Communication Security Division of the MJIB also sent their senior officials as moderators and speakers. The conference focused on how law enforcement and security agencies in various countries should work together to prevent new security threats, with practical examples complementing academic theories. The MJIB hopes that by convening this international conference, a consensus can be established that “crime fighting goes beyond borders,” and that new thinking and strategies can be conceived to effectively prevent various types of emerging transnational crime and protect regional security and people’s well-being.