In a first, defense report released in Chinese, English simultaneously

ROC Central News Agency

11/09/2021 02:51 PM

Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) Taiwan's national defense report was released in Chinese and English simultaneously on Tuesday for the first time to boost communications between foreign countries and Taiwan amid efforts to combat the rising military threat from China.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) began issuing the biennial report on the latest military-related developments in Taiwan in both Chinese and English in 1992.

Over the past 30 years, however, the Chinese edition was published first, followed by the English version weeks or months later after it was translated.

A military source told CNA that it previously took at least one and a half months for the Chinese version of the report to be translated into English and put online.

By publishing them together, international media can cite it in their stories as soon as it is published to make it more timely and newsworthy, the source said.

According to MND spokesman Shih Shun-wen (史順文), the latest change was also made to enable Taiwan's armed forces to better communicate with foreign countries and support the government's policy to turn Taiwan into a bilingual country.

In the 16th edition of the report tilted "Resilience: ROC Armed Forces," the military reported on its efforts over the past two years to reform the country's armed forces and strengthen its ability to deter intensifying military coercions from China.

The report says the People's Republic of China (PRC) has attempted to "unilaterally alter the international order of freedom and openness through the manipulation by gray zone activities" as the world is busy dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The PRC's military preparations, realistic combat training and exercises, and intimidations and actions targeted at Taiwan are expected to be intensified, posing a grave threat to the security in the Taiwan Strait," it warns.

Beijing's so-called gray zone warfare includes the near-daily incursions of People's Liberation Army (PLA) planes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) and military drills in the vicinity of the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea.

The PRC is also deploying other non-traditional threats to Taipei, including cyber and cognitive warfare, which the report said is aimed at conquering Taiwan without an actual full-scale military conflict.

In response, Taiwan's military actively beefed up its combat preparedness with the acquisition of new weapon systems from abroad, and by developing indigenous ones.

The domestic weapons program includes the rollout of the Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT), the delivery of more ships under the High-Performance Vessel (HPV) program, and the activation of the building phase of the Indigenous Defensive Submarine (IDS).

Aside from the main report, the MND also put online an infographic and a summary of the report to make it more accessible to the public.

A comic-book version of the report was also issued to draw greater attention to national defense issues, according to the MND.

The full English version of the report can be found at: https://reurl.cc/OkDgj3

(By Joseph Yeh)

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