The following report from Taiwannews.com sheds some light on the earlier report carried by Scoop concerning warnings given by the US to Taiwan of an imminent terrorist attack in South East Asia. (See… Report May Suggest Foreknowledge Of Bali Bombing )

From the following it appears that the report was correct in claiming that the Taiwanese Premiere had claimed to have received a warning Friday that a terrorist attack was imminent in South East Asia. However the warning does not appear to have been specific.

The report also confirms the assertion in the earlier post that the Taiwanese Premiere claimed US officials who gave the warning sought to have it kept secret.

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Opposition slams foreign ministry for slow reaction

From: http://www.etaiwannews.com/Taiwan/2002/10/15/1034643430.htm

“Two opposition parties yesterday expressed dissatisfaction at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' reaction to the bomb attack on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, and they urged the government to take immediate responsive measures.

Despite the fact that the bombing in Bali caused many deaths and injuries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not move immediately to list Indonesia as a highly dangerous area or restrict travel to that country, but only issued a safety warning to travelers from Taiwan.

Kuomintang legislative leader Lee Chuan-chiao pointed out that the incident had exposed the DPP government's poor crisis management skills, particularly in view of the Executive Yuan's claim that it had, last Friday, obtained intelligence on a possible terrorist attack in a southeast Asian Muslim country. (Emphasis added)

According to Lee, the worst part is that the government did not issue a warning because the United States government asked it not to disclose the information.

"The KMT's priority is the safety of our people - not America's national interests." He also called on the government to establish an anti-terrorism crisis management team.

Meanwhile, People First Party legislative leader Shen Chih-hwei asked the government to assist in the return of Taiwan nationals currently in Indonesia. She said she would like to commend Premier Yu Shyi-kun for obtaining advance information on the terrorist attack, but on the other hand would like to condemn him for not warning the Taiwanese people to stay away from danger.