On June 13, the Ministry of National Defense released the latest All-Out Defense Response Handbook. The updated handbook covers the techniques of telling friend from foe and accessing accurate information. While the military’s effort should be applauded, the Ministry of National Defense should consider the situation more from the civilians’ perspective, particularly in terms of differentiating friend from foe.
Here are some suggestions for the military:
First, senior military officers find it easy to tell Taiwan’s armed forces from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), even though all of them are in camouflage uniforms. On the other hand, civilians might not be able to distinguish between the two or tell the difference between uniforms of the Marine Corps from those of the army. The illustrations of camouflage uniforms should be clearer.
Second, elements of caricature in portraying soldiers should be removed, given that they might increase the difficulty in telling friend from foe. During wartime, the impression of caricatured soldiers would make it harder for Taiwanese to recognize the enemy.
Third, the portrayal of Taiwan’s armed forces and the PLA should be revised. The caricature of the former with a big smile and the latter with a pouting expression is unnecessary. This also shows a sense of complacency, which should be avoided.
Lastly, the ranks and lines on the camouflage uniforms are confusing. Civilians do not know much about the classification of our armed forces, and conscripted soldiers rarely have a chance to communicate with others in different ranks and lines. In this case, the illustration is redundant, and the military might want to eliminate it.
Hopefully, the All-Out Defense Response Handbook can be further edited to fulfill its purpose. It should be an emergency survival manual for every household and individual. The Ministry of National Defense should remove unnecessary details and make the handbook more accessible for the public, to boost people’s willingness to read it thoroughly and keep the important points in mind.
The military should not emphasize creativity too much only to please the media and the public, and it should not be satisfied with the current version. The All-Out Defense Response Handbook must be taken seriously.
Fang Ping-sheng is a former major in the Republic of China Marine Corps.
Translated by Emma Liu
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