TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The new government will support the domestic cybersecurity industry and help it develop to the next stage, President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Wednesday (May 15).

He was speaking in Taipei at CyberSec the largest information security conference in the Asia-Pacific region. This was the third year he has attended the annual event, but this 10^th edition was the first time he had been invited to speak, Lai said.

As Taiwan is the country in the world most affected by disinformation, fake news, and cyberattacks, it is vital for the local cybersecurity sector to improve, he told the conference, per Radio Taiwan International (RTI). 

Lai said cybersecurity amounted to national security, and recalled how he had first seen the potential impact of disinformation when he served as premier from 2017 to 2019. Later governments had built on his efforts to develop a cybersecurity sector and established the Ministry of Digital Affairs in 2022, he said.