Taiwan has set up a special task force to try to control possible damage over some highly sensitive documents that may be released by WikiLeaks.
The whistle-blowing website is expected to unveil confidential information involving relations between Taiwan, the mainland and the United States, through a total of 3,456 cables sent by the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy on the island.
The cables could reveal secrets concerning military and political issues involving Taipei, Beijing and Washington.
Cables from the US embassy in Beijing have already been released. In those files, diplomats noted Beijing's concern that the US could sell Black Hawk helicopters and F-16 C/D fighters to Taiwan. And WikiLeaks has said US Defence Secretary Dr Robert Gates, while visiting Turkey early this year, proposed that Ankara lease or buy American-made AH-1W attack helicopters from Taiwan.
Wary of the negative impact on US ties, Taiwanese legislators asked Defence Minister General Kao Hua-chu yesterday whether the military had prepared any measures to cope with the possible leaks.
Kao said the military had set up a team to comb through WikiLeaks cables relating to Taiwan. 'I have ordered defence vice-minister Dr Andrew Yang Nien-dzu to lead a special task force to verify the cables' to see whether the information in them was true, he said.