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Taiwan creates task force to study Israel-Hamas war as part of defense prep

ROC Central News Agency

10/12/2023 03:54 PM

Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has appointed a task force to examine the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said Thursday.

The task force has been created with the understanding that intelligence is a key factor in the process of preparation against potential enemy attacks, Chiu said, when asked by reporters what lessons the Israel-Palestinian war held for Taiwan.

While Taiwan should "make preparations for war, it should not court war," however, as the collateral damage can be "harrowing," Chiu told reporters, before attending a hearing of the Legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee.

He said Taiwan's armed forces hope to prevent war, and they have been working tirelessly to that end, while doing their best not to misjudge the situation.

Taiwan's military has been closely monitoring the situation around the country, paying close attention to any signs of an enemy advancement, which would form the basis of the military's judgment of the situation, Chiu said.

On the question of whether Taiwan was capable of calling up 300,000 reservists in a single day like Israeli recently did, Chiu did not give a direct answer, saying only that Taiwan is a small country, and its armed forces have mobilization plans in place.

Attendance has been "quite high" at past reservist training programs, he added.

During the legislative hearing, meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) urged the MND to work with the Ministry of the Interior to more widely publicize the locations of the country's air raid shelters, so that people could quickly get to safety in the event of an airstrike.

Currently, the full information about air raid shelters can only be accessed by scanning a QR code in an online file called the All-Out Defense Handbook, Wang said, adding that not everyone knows how to do that.

He suggested that the defense and interior ministries work to ensure that the shelter information can be also printed for distribution to residents of every district, borough and neighborhood in the country.

In response, Chiu said an evaluation of Wang's proposal should not be a problem, as the MND's All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency usually meets weekly or biweekly with staff members of several central government agencies.

(By Sean Lin)

Enditem/pc