Taiwan should create a center of excellence to facilitate the exchange of information with foreign organizations, thus piecing information together to better understand China’s “grand hybrid warfare strategy,” Puma Shen (沈伯洋), head of the privately run civil defense school Kuma Academy and a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator-at-large nominee, said on Friday last week.
Shen made the remarks on the sidelines of an event looking back on the academy’s achievements this year when asked by a reporter what international collaborations the institution plans to carry out to curb the spread of disinformation.
NATO nations all have centers of excellence to counter Russia’s hybrid warfare, but Taiwan does not have a similar institution, despite being “uniquely positioned” to develop one, Shen said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
A center of excellence could be state-run, privately run or semi-governmental, but regardless of its management, it should serve as a platform for collaboration between the public and private sectors, he said.
Unlike traditional warfare, China’s hybrid warfare campaign against Taiwan has been broad in its scope and encompasses military action, cognitive warfare, cyberwarfare, economic sanctions and persuading the nation’s diplomatic allies to recognize Beijing, Shen said.
“Only when we know what it [China] has been doing in each country can we piece together its grand strategy,” he said. “If all countries were concerned only with themselves, they would succumb one by one.”
Shen is in second place on the DPP list of legislator-at-large nominees, which essentially guarantees him a seat in the legislature after the Jan. 13 elections.
In that position, Shen said he plans to raise public awareness of the need for civil defense by sponsoring a bill that would assign district offices the task of establishing volunteer-based civil defense institutions. These would ensure people with different skill sets know where to congregate in the event of an emergency.
The academy, established in 2021, held about 450 in-person events and more than 18 events aimed at promoting exchanges with overseas civil defense institutions this year, Shen said.
It would continue to hold regular events — in particular those that can be attended by parents and their children — so that the concept of civil defense takes root at a young age, he said.
The academy has also built a “national civil defense team” consisting of companies that manufacture products and equipment associated with civil defense, he added.
The team currently comprises Hsin Hsin Biotech Co, which is set to roll out a sustenance package with a shelf life of seven years next year; membrane and filter manufacturer Mbran Filtra Co; health protection supplies manufacturer China Surgical Dressings Center Co; and Ace Biotek Co, which is the distributor of a US-made special operation forces tactical tourniquet.
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