A defense review prepared for the legislature does not contain any description of a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) plan to establish a cyberwarfare branch in the armed forces, as promised by the party during the campaign for last year’s presidential election.
The Ministry of National Defense is scheduled to present its Quadrennial Defense Review — the first such report since the DPP government took office last year — to the legislature on Thursday.
The report does not say anything about a DPP defense blue book that promised to establish a fourth service in the armed forces aimed at fighting organized hackers and countering terrorist cyberattacks on Taiwan.
The report does mention “strengthening cyberwarfare capabilities” and other measures to enhance the quality of the nation’s defense personnel, and acknowledges that Taiwan cannot compete quantitatively with China’s growing People’s Liberation Army.
It says that China’s rising military power is not only adversely affecting the stability of the Asia-Pacific region, but also “posing a threat to Taiwan’s national security.”
To enhance national security, the ministry will boost its cyberwarfare capabilities, ensure the security of its command-control and information infrastructure, and strengthen joint counterattack readiness, the report says.
The report also elaborates on the ministry’s “multi-deterrence” strategy, saying it would use “innovative, asymmetrical” ways to force the enemy into “multi-dilemmas,” deterring the enemy from attempting to launch attacks on Taiwan.
If the enemy should invade Taiwan, the armed forces will “resist enemy troops at their home bases, strike them at sea, destroy them as they approach Taiwan’s coastlines and annihilate them on the beaches,” it added.
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