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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Elections & Politics

Taiwan Lawmakers Discuss Security Resilience at US Think Tank

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Taiwanese lawmakers participated in a forum at the Hudson Institute in Washington, focusing on "Taiwan's Security Resilience."
  • Legislators emphasized strengthening societal defense across military, infrastructure, economic, and psychological dimensions.
  • The initiative aims to enhance Taiwan's self-sufficiency and ability to withstand threats, including natural disasters and potential Chinese aggression.

Taiwanese legislators engaged with American think tanks in Washington to discuss "Taiwan's Security Resilience," highlighting a proactive approach to national defense. The forum, hosted by the Hudson Institute, saw Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers Shen Po-yang and Wang Ting-yu present their perspectives on bolstering Taiwan's ability to withstand various threats.

Whole-of-society defense resilience is not about turning society into a military camp, but about injecting the spirit of defense into society and democratizing defense.

— Shen Po-yangExplaining the concept of societal defense resilience at the Hudson Institute forum.

Shen Po-yang outlined a five-pronged strategy for societal defense resilience. This includes strengthening professional military capabilities through arms procurement, fortifying essential infrastructure like hospitals and energy grids, ensuring economic resilience, equipping the public with defense skills such as first aid and information verification, and fostering a resilient mindset. Shen, who founded the "Black Bear Academy" to train civilians in emergency preparedness, believes democratizing defense is key.

Wang Ting-yu underscored the importance of integrating government and civilian efforts to create a self-sufficient resource system. He argued that this comprehensive approach not only prepares Taiwan for potential Chinese threats but also enhances its response to natural disasters like earthquakes and typhoons. Both lawmakers stressed the need for continuous adaptation and a shift in public perception to avoid complacency.

Strengthening professional military forces, building essential infrastructure, economic resilience, teaching social defense skills, and having the right mindset are the five levels of whole-of-society defense resilience.

— Shen Po-yangDetailing the components of Taiwan's defense strategy.

The discussions also touched upon Taiwan's effective self-defense planning in the face of international sanctions. The concept of "whole-of-society defense resilience" was presented as a sophisticated strategy that goes beyond traditional military measures, embedding defensive principles into the fabric of society.

How to integrate the public and private sectors to build a continuous, self-sufficient resource supply system is very important.

— Wang Ting-yuEmphasizing the need for government-civilian cooperation in disaster preparedness.
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Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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