Rescinding provisions of the Civil Defense Act (民防法) permitting civilian forces to support military tasks during wartime would cripple national defense, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said on Saturday.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) had proposed draft amendments to the Civil Defense Act (民防法) to exclude military operations support from the scope of civilian defense efforts.
President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has set a goal of training 400,000 people as part of a civilian defense force to enhance whole-of-society defense resilience.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
However, opposition parties have questioned whether those people would be conscripted into a “militia.”
The KMT caucus said it would also propose draft amendments to the All-out Defense Mobilization Readiness Act (全民防衛動員準備法) to revoke provisions for the mobilization of “school youths.”
Liu said she was concerned about Hsu’s bill, which was sent back to the legislature’s Procedure Committee on Friday.
The 400,000 people to be trained for a civilian defense force would include about 270,000 people who are active members or reservists in alternative military services, more than 40,000 volunteer firefighters, and more than 70,000 people from civic task forces, such as volunteer police and disaster response groups, she said.
A civilian defense force would assist the government in humanitarian aid and maintaining public order in response to natural disasters or other emergencies, she said, adding that they would not be “recruited,” but would be grouped and trained in line with regulations
The armed forces are among the primary responders to natural disasters, but they could not be mobilized if they are engaged in a war, she said.
The Civil Defense Act was based on Geneva Conventions to establish legal grounds for a resilient society that could deal with extreme situations, Liu said.
“Civilian defense forces would help maintain public order and control traffic, and help with disaster relief, rescue operations and logistics work. They are not armed militias and would not participate in military combat missions,” she said.
Students should develop the ability to identify disasters or crises and how to respond, which have long been incorporated in training on campus safety and earthquake safety, as well as the military training courses in high schools, she said.
“Students are part of the national defense system on campus, and their inclusion [in civilian defense forces] is not new,” she said.
Efforts between civic groups and government agencies at all levels in promoting national resilience should not be stigmatized, she said.
“Would anyone say physical education should be abolished just because a student got hurt and bled during the class?” she said in response to those who exaggerate the risk of civilians providing support to the military.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS