Taiwan should make broader use of civilian assets, including drones and security guards, to defend the country in a potential cross-strait conflict, security experts told a conference in Taipei on Wednesday.
Drones have played a key role in Ukraine’s effective asymmetric warfare as it fended off Russian attacks, proving that the technology has caused a seachange in armed conflict, Geosat Aerospace & Technology Inc chairman Lo Cheng-fang (羅正方) told the event hosted by think tank Taiwan Tao Strategy Association.
Uncrewed aerial vehicles, such as the Turkish Bayraktar TB2, helped Ukrainian forces defy predictions that the country would fall quickly without air superiority, he said.
Photo: Aaron Tu, Taipei Times
“Drones have become the poor country’s air superiority,” Lo said.
Taiwan’s armed forces should tap into the military potential of the country’s 10,000 licensed drone operators for service at war, but should also be wary that Chinese drones could also pose a national security threat, he said.
The Civil Defense Act (民防法) could be amended to authorize private security companies to help maintain order and public safety during wartime, Security Industries Association president Chang Ta-chang (張達錩) said.
Private security groups are suited for the task, as they have familiarity with Taiwan’s basic infrastructure, including hospitals, mass transit systems, banks and residential complexes, he said, adding that the country’s 300,000 security guards could also help distribute necessities and collect information.
Beijing’s strategy to defeat Taiwan is to isolate the country first by using sea, air and land forces in overwhelming combinations, said Kung Shan-son (龔祥生), a research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
The Taiwanese military’s strong defense abilities and layered deterrence was developed largely to foil that strategy by developing highly mobile, well-concealed and long-range precision weapon capabilities, he said.
The survival of Taiwan’s command and control centers are bolstered by these defense advances, as well as aiding surveillance capabilities and combat forces, he said, adding that Taiwan’s advanced weapons could disrupt the enemy’s operational tempo, force delays and ultimately defeat an invasion, he said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
RSS