In an article published today on this page (“Let civilians lead defense ministry”), Yao Chung-yuan (姚中原), former deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense’s strategic planning department, writes that Taiwan should have a minister of national defense who comes from a nonmilitary background.
While this might eventually happen, now is not the time. At least, no such change should be made during president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) first term in office.
Although Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would control the executive arm of government when he takes office in May, it is outnumbered by opposition parties in the legislature. The DPP is already embroiled in fierce fighting with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Faced with intense questioning by opposition legislators, a civilian defense minister might well stumble to answer.
Meanwhile, tensions across the Taiwan Strait have worsened following a Feb. 14 incident in which a Chinese fishing boat capsized while a Taiwanese coast guard patrol boat chased it out of restricted waters between Kinmen County and Xiamen, China. A defense minister with a military background would be better suited to assist the president, direct the armed forces, and handle this and other crises.
A defense minister with a military background would also be able to quickly learn the ropes of their ministerial duties and take on the readiness and preparation challenges related to possible armed conflict.
Any civilian defense minister who comes into office after Lai is inaugurated on May 20 cannot possibly be fully prepared. They might not even be familiar with the units of the army, navy and air force. If they find themselves floundering, they might have to rely on their subordinates to save them. That could put Lai’s government in a shaky political situation, which would be bad for the country.
Yao said that having military personnel at the top in a structure of close relations between graduates of the same institutions has left the military riddled with problems, such as communist spies leaking secrets and frequent infringements of military discipline. Such circumstances make it even more essential for the Lai administration to focus on stability in choosing its first national defense minister before implementing other reforms.
In an interview broadcast on Saturday, Swiss public radio station RSI asked Pope Francis about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“I believe that the strongest are those who see the situation, think about the people, and have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate,” the pontiff said.
A potential war in the Taiwan Strait is the next highly uncertain risk for the world. If war breaks out, Taiwan would not be the side raising a white flag.
If incoming president Lai, with his civilian background, appoints a defense minister from the military establishment, it would probably be the “perfect match.”
Fang Ping-sheng is a retired major in the Republic of China Marine Corps.
Translated by Julian Clegg
With each passing day, the threat of a People’s Republic of China (PRC) assault on Taiwan grows. Whatever one’s view about the history, there is essentially no question that a PRC conquest of Taiwan would mark the end of the autonomy and freedom enjoyed by the island’s 23 million people. Simply put, the PRC threat to Taiwan is genuinely existential for a free, democratic and autonomous Taiwan. Yet one might not know it from looking at Taiwan. For an island facing a threat so acute, lethal and imminent, Taiwan is showing an alarming lack of urgency in dramatically strengthening its defenses.
As India’s six-week-long general election grinds past the halfway mark, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s messaging has shifted from confident to shrill. After the first couple of phases of polling showed a 3 percentage point drop in turnout, Modi and his party leaders have largely stopped promoting their accomplishments of the past 10 years — or, for that matter, the “Modi guarantees” offered in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for the next five. Instead, making the majority Hindu population fear and loathe Muslims seems to be the BJP’s preferred talking point. Modi went on the offensive in an April 21
The people of Taiwan recently received confirmation of the strength of American support for their security. Of four foreign aid bills that Congress passed and President Biden signed in April, the bill legislating additional support for Taiwan garnered the most votes. Three hundred eighty-five members of the House of Representatives voted to provide foreign military financing to Taiwan versus only 34 against. More members of Congress voted to support Taiwan than Ukraine, Israel, or banning TikTok. There was scant debate over whether the United States should provide greater support for Taiwan. It was understood and broadly accepted that doing so
I still remember the first time I heard about the possibility of an invasion by China. I was six years old. I thought war was coming and hid in my bed, scared. After 18 years, the invasion news tastes like a sandwich I eat every morning. As a Gen Z Taiwanese student who has witnessed China’s harassment for more than 20 years, I want to share my opinion on China. Every generation goes through different events. I have seen not only the norms of China’s constant presence, but also the Sunflower movement, wars and people fighting over peace or equality,