The Ministry of National Defense has appointed a task force to study the war between Israel and Hamas, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday.
The task force was created with the understanding that intelligence is a key factor to prepare against potential enemy attacks, Chiu said when asked by reporters what lessons the war held for Taiwan.
While Taiwan should “make preparations for war, it should not court war,” as collateral damage can be “harrowing,” Chiu told reporters before attending a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Taiwan’s armed forces hope to prevent war and they have been working tirelessly to that end, while doing their best not to misjudge situations, he said.
The military has been closely monitoring activity near the country’s territorial waters, paying close attention to signs of enemy advancement, he said.
Asked whether Taiwan was capable of calling up 300,000 reservists in a single day as Israel has done since the Hamas incursion on Saturday last week, Chiu did not give a direct answer, saying only that Taiwan is a small country and its armed forces have mobilization plans in place.
Attendance has been “quite high” at reservist training programs, he added.
During the legislative meeting, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) urged the ministry to work with the Ministry of the Interior to make the locations of the nation’s air raid shelters more well known so people could quickly get to safety in the event of an airstrike.
Full information about air raid shelters can only be accessed by scanning a QR code to access the All-Out Defense Handbook, Wang said, adding that not everyone knows how to do that.
The defense and interior ministries should ensure that the information is printed and distributed to people nationwide, he said.
An evaluation of Wang’s proposal should not be a problem, as the All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency usually meets weekly or biweekly with staff members of several central government agencies, Chiu said.
Separately, the government raised its travel alert for Israel to the second-highest “orange” level, advising people to avoid unnecessary travel.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the highest-level “red” alert for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, advising people not to visit either area.
The foreign ministry on Sunday lifted its alert for Israel to “yellow” from “gray” following the Hamas attack.
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS