The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today delivered its Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) to lawmakers, highlighting the nation’s defense strategy and elaborating on the role of US military cooperation.
As per Article 31 of the National Defense Act (國防法), the ministry must publicly submit the QDR to the Legislative Yuan within 10 months of a presidential inauguration.
The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign and National Defense Committee invited Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to deliver the review and answer questions from lawmakers.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The previous QDR in 2021 focused on strong defenses and multi-layered deterrence, which remained unchanged in this iteration.
The strategy would take advantage of Taiwan’s terrain to develop military preparation around the principles of “adaptability, agility, lethality, cost-effectiveness and stealth,” the latest QDR said.
The nation would build combat capability across land, sea and air, in addition to cyber, to deter aggression, the QDR said.
In wartime, the ministry would rapidly mobilize, enact multiple layers of defense and lean on military-civilian integration to delay enemy actions, weaken any invading forces and force a retreat, it said.
Future budget increases would focus on enhancing asymmetric capabilities and strengthening counters to “gray zone” threats, the QDR said.
To bring the total defense budget to President William Lai’s (賴清德) target of more than 3 percent of GDP, the MND would prioritize a special defense budget, it added.
Unlike the previous QDR in 2021, the latest review included a separate chapter dedicated to “linking regionally to strengthen collective deterrence,” with the chapter’s first section dedicated to “deepening military exchanges between Taiwan and the US.”
The US is an important strategic partner, engages in close military exchanges and assists the nation in developing its self-defense capabilities, it said.
The ministry would continue to promote strategic cooperation with the US to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, it added.
As for future cooperation plans, the ministry would expand and deepen cooperation in strategic national security dialogues and visits, joint military exercises, defense industry cooperation and intelligence sharing, it said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS