The Ministry of National Defense reiterated the right to self-defense in a statement released on Friday, in response to media reports that the ministry has adjusted its modus operandi for a defensive counterstrike.
The ministry said international law states that when countries are attacked by foreign armed forces, they have the right to respond with armed force in self-defense.
The ministry added that if enemy planes or ships enter “our territorial airspace or waters,” and attempts to expel them by identification, interception and broadcasting warnings fail, the frontline commander is authorized to take appropriate countermeasures to defend national security.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) on Thursday said the military’s definition of a “first shot” by China had been updated to denote a “first move” involving Chinese military aircraft or vessels “crossing the boundary,” meaning entering Taiwan’s territorial waters and airspace.
A “first move” of that nature would be “countered” by the armed forces, Chiu said.
In the past, the military’s rules of engagement held that only when the enemy had fired a first shot — be it artillery, cannons or missiles — would the armed forces respond, the minister said.
The concept of a “first move” was adopted shortly after he became minister of defense in February 2021, Chiu said, adding that the definition was further fleshed out after then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the nation in August 2022, when China responded by staging large-scale military exercises around Taiwan.
Given that Chiu’s remarks on Thursday failed to make clear the timing of the so-called “first move,” they sparked concerns over possible skirmishes with China.
On the sidelines of a legislative hearing on Friday, reporters asked Chiu, who said a day earlier that the situation in the Taiwan Strait was tense, whether Taiwan and China were on the brink of war.
Chiu said that as a soldier, it was his duty to ensure politics plays no role in his assessments as to the prospects of war, which is based on real-time indicators on the ground.
An enemy move could give seven to eight indicators, and it is his job to ensure these are analyzed, he said, adding that the ministry’s ethos is to never be optimistic in its assessments.
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