Taiwan should make broader use of civilian assets, including drones and security guards, to defend the country in a potential cross-strait conflict, security experts told a conference in Taipei on Wednesday.
Drones have played a key role in Ukraine’s effective asymmetric warfare as it fended off Russian attacks, proving that the technology has caused a seachange in armed conflict, Geosat Aerospace & Technology Inc chairman Lo Cheng-fang (羅正方) told the event hosted by think tank Taiwan Tao Strategy Association.
Uncrewed aerial vehicles, such as the Turkish Bayraktar TB2, helped Ukrainian forces defy predictions that the country would fall quickly without air superiority, he said.
Photo: Aaron Tu, Taipei Times
“Drones have become the poor country’s air superiority,” Lo said.
Taiwan’s armed forces should tap into the military potential of the country’s 10,000 licensed drone operators for service at war, but should also be wary that Chinese drones could also pose a national security threat, he said.
The Civil Defense Act (民防法) could be amended to authorize private security companies to help maintain order and public safety during wartime, Security Industries Association president Chang Ta-chang (張達錩) said.
Private security groups are suited for the task, as they have familiarity with Taiwan’s basic infrastructure, including hospitals, mass transit systems, banks and residential complexes, he said, adding that the country’s 300,000 security guards could also help distribute necessities and collect information.
Beijing’s strategy to defeat Taiwan is to isolate the country first by using sea, air and land forces in overwhelming combinations, said Kung Shan-son (龔祥生), a research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
The Taiwanese military’s strong defense abilities and layered deterrence was developed largely to foil that strategy by developing highly mobile, well-concealed and long-range precision weapon capabilities, he said.
The survival of Taiwan’s command and control centers are bolstered by these defense advances, as well as aiding surveillance capabilities and combat forces, he said, adding that Taiwan’s advanced weapons could disrupt the enemy’s operational tempo, force delays and ultimately defeat an invasion, he said.
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
RSS