The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability.
Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to changing circumstances than the Russian military. Experts say this is largely due to the NATO-style reforms Ukraine implemented after Russia’s invasion in 2014. The reforms transitioned the force away from its Soviet roots of slow and rigid top-down command, which still characterizes the Russian military, to one in which Ukrainian troops have more autonomy to use their initiative to make tactical decisions in the thick of battle.
Military cultures reflect the societies from which they emerge. Autocratic political systems create militaries that are hostile to open communication, autonomy and delegation. Democracies create militaries in which decisionmaking can be decentralized and officers have the freedom to adapt to circumstances.
Taiwan is a democracy, but it has been slow to implement NATO-style military reforms. With its top-heavy command structure and numerous top generals, the military looks closer to the Soviet-style Russian military than a Ukrainian or NATO military.
On one level, this is not entirely surprising. Taiwan’s military traces its founding to the Whampoa Military Academy in China’s Guangdong Province, which was set up by Soviet officers and with Soviet money. Vasily Blyukher, a Soviet commander, was its chief adviser.
Silverado Policy Accelerator founder Dmitri Alperovitch, author of World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century, says it is unsurprising that Taiwan’s military is wedded to outdated ideas about force structure and strategy. The US cut Taiwan’s military off when it established diplomatic relations with China. The result is that for nearly four decades the nation’s military has been unable to learn best practices from NATO-standard militaries. It is hardly surprising that it has not adapted, although that is changing.
Adapting the military into a command and control structure able to fight modern wars requires a cultural change, which can be helped by increased democratic oversight and accountability to civilian command. This is why President William Lai (賴清德) appointed Wellington Koo (顧立雄), a civilian, as minister of national defense. Koo has not been socialized in an outdated system wedded to old concepts.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) made great strides toward changing society’s relationship with the military and building trust in an institution that has long been associated with the authoritarian period. She went out of her way to visit military bases, dress in camouflage and be photographed holding weapons. She also helped build the military’s trust in and respect for civilian, Democratic Progressive Party leadership.
Lai wants to go further and change the military culture, especially the defeatist mentality among conservative generals that Taiwan cannot resist China.
“In history, there are many cases where the few win out over the many, and there are countless ways to win over old-fashioned enemies with new thinking,” he told air force officers at an air base in Taichung on Tuesday.
It will take time to change the military culture, but the direction being taken is positive.
President William Lai (賴清德) attended a dinner held by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) when representatives from the group visited Taiwan in October. In a speech at the event, Lai highlighted similarities in the geopolitical challenges faced by Israel and Taiwan, saying that the two countries “stand on the front line against authoritarianism.” Lai noted how Taiwan had “immediately condemned” the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and had provided humanitarian aid. Lai was heavily criticized from some quarters for standing with AIPAC and Israel. On Nov. 4, the Taipei Times published an opinion article (“Speak out on the
More than a week after Hondurans voted, the country still does not know who will be its next president. The Honduran National Electoral Council has not declared a winner, and the transmission of results has experienced repeated malfunctions that interrupted updates for almost 24 hours at times. The delay has become the second-longest post-electoral silence since the election of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party in 2017, which was tainted by accusations of fraud. Once again, this has raised concerns among observers, civil society groups and the international community. The preliminary results remain close, but both
News about expanding security cooperation between Israel and Taiwan, including the visits of Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) in September and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) this month, as well as growing ties in areas such as missile defense and cybersecurity, should not be viewed as isolated events. The emphasis on missile defense, including Taiwan’s newly introduced T-Dome project, is simply the most visible sign of a deeper trend that has been taking shape quietly over the past two to three years. Taipei is seeking to expand security and defense cooperation with Israel, something officials
The Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation has demanded an apology from China Central Television (CCTV), accusing the Chinese state broadcaster of using “deceptive editing” and distorting the intent of a recent documentary on “comfort women.” According to the foundation, the Ama Museum in Taipei granted CCTV limited permission to film on the condition that the footage be used solely for public education. Yet when the documentary aired, the museum was reportedly presented alongside commentary condemning Taiwan’s alleged “warmongering” and criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s stance toward Japan. Instead of focusing on women’s rights or historical memory, the program appeared crafted
RSS