• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Taiwan releases first defense paper since Russian invasion of Ukraine

ROC Central News Agency

09/12/2023 02:28 PM

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's military on Tuesday released its first national defense report since the Russian invasion of Ukraine which stated that the nation's armed forces are learning from the war in Europe, and are boosting the country's asymmetrical warfare capabilities and adopting a whole-of-society approach in preparation for a potential cross-strait war.

According to the 2023 National Defense Report, the Taiwan military noted that as is being seen in the Russia-Ukraine war that started in February 2022, the Chinese side is also deploying hybrid warfare to target Taiwan through both military coercion and non-traditional threats, including cyber and cognitive warfare.

In response, the report says that the Taiwan military is upholding its long-held "resolute defense and multi-domain deterrence" strategic guidance, and continuing to beef up its asymmetrical warfare capabilities in the face of a much stronger opponent.

Meanwhile, learning from the example of Ukraine, Taiwan is also beefing up its all-out-defense capability by reforming its reservist system and publishing an all-out-defense handbook.

The civilian defense handbook was published in June 2023 and outlines safety precautions for civilians to take during an air raid, major fire, building collapse, major power outage, water shortage, or shortage of essential goods, while explaining basic survival skills and noting emergency hotlines people can call.

Following Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) December 2022 announcement that compulsory military service in Taiwan will be extended from four months to one year from Jan. 1, 2024, the latest defense report dedicated a whole chapter to explaining how the conscription system reform will strengthen Taiwan's combat readiness against potential Chinese attacks.

In addition, for the first time since the Ministry of National Defense (MND) began publishing the biennial paper in 1992, an audiobook version was also produced.

In doing so the military is hoping that the defense paper can reach a wider audience including those with limited vision, it added.

Another highlight of the 2023 version is that the report contains notes that explain military terms in plain language, for example, what the difference is between an air defense identification zone and a flight information zone, and what the Taiwan median line is, according to the MND.

Meanwhile, for the second time, Chinese and English versions were published simultaneously.

Before the 2021 edition, the MND would first issue the report in Chinese, followed by an English version weeks or months later.

The MND previously said the change adhered to the government's bilingual policy and would enable Taiwan's armed forces to better communicate with foreign countries.

The Chinese, English and audiobook versions of the 2023 National Defense Report are available at https://reurl.cc/nL0Gxl

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/kb