On being informed that a South Korean naval patrol vessel sank in disputed maritime waters off the divided peninsula, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), on a state visit to Palau, called an emergency meeting of security officials on Friday night and ordered the activation of Taiwan’s national security mechanism, Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said.

Ma also held a conference call yesterday morning with officials in Taipei, including Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), to gather further information, Lo said.