To counter military threats from China, Taiwan may consider developing a civilian-based defense system to enhance its overall self-defense capabilities, university military instructors suggested yesterday.
The system suggested for adoption by the military is a defense concept relatively new to Taiwan.
It highlights the use of non-violent action by civilians to counter aggression from an enemy or suppression from the government. The non-violent action could take many forms, ranging from refusal to cooperate to protests and even sabotage.
It was first introduced into Taiwan by a group of DPP members as a way of resisting the former ruling KMT.
Albert Lin (林哲夫), chairman of the Taiwan Research Association of National Peace Security, is one of the most vigorous proponents of the system.
Through Lin's persuasion over the past few years, the military has been talked into accepting civilian-based defense and is ready to list it as one of the defense concepts to be taught in military education courses in senior high schools and colleges.
At a conference on such systems held yesterday by the research association, military instructors from colleges in Taipei expressed support for the acceptance of civilian-based defense as a concept that students from senior high schools up must learn.
Colonel Liao Teh-chih (廖德智), the chief of military instructors at Tamkang University, said the military may consider developing such a system as part of its defense capabilities. Liao made the remarks as he presented a paper at the conference.
"Civilian-based defense is a defense mechanism focused on civilians. Civilians should be trained for non-violent action they can launch against the enemy if their country is occupied by the enemy," Liao said.
"It could become a multiplier to the overall self-defense power of the country. It could also become a deterrent force against the enemy since the enemy will be worried about what kind of action it will meet from the people of the country they are going to invade," he said.
Quoting foreign scholar Gene Sharp, Liao said the system could be effectively used by Taiwan against a potential invasion from China. Sharp is one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of civilian-based defense. He visited Taiwan's Tri-Service University, the predecessor of the National Defense University, six years ago to speak on the subject.
"In his analysis of Taiwan's national defense, Sharp says it is hard for Taiwan to mobilize all of its military resources against a potential invasion from China since Taiwan is much smaller than China," Liao said.
"Sharp says if Taiwan keeps investing large sums of money on a military build-up, it will affect the nations's economic development. Sharp suggests that Taiwan develop alternative weapons to replace conventional weapons. The alternative weapons could be psychological, social, political or economic," he said.
Commenting on Liao's paper, National Security Council official Lieutenant General Liu Hsiang-pin (劉湘濱) cast doubts on the effectiveness of the system.
"There is nothing new about civilian-based defense. Our military already has similar concepts in its defense thinking. These concepts are generally known as part of our passive defense," Liu said.
"Civilian-based defense stresses the use of non-violent action against the aggressor. But action must be violent to achieve its greatest effect against the enemy," Liao said. "We must not put too much emphasis on civilian-based defense although it could be developed as part of our defensive power."
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary