Civil defense in Taiwan traces its modern roots to the Japanese colonial period and has recently seen a resurgence due to the increasing threat from China following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Organized civil defense in Taiwan began during the Japanese colonial period. After taking over in 1945, the Chinese Nationalist government inaugurated the Taiwan Province Air Defense Command. This organization was primarily responsible for organizing air defense and evacuation. In 1949, it was renamed to the Taiwan Province Civil Defense Command. In 1973 the responsibility for civil defense shifted from the Ministry of Defense to the Ministry of the Interior with the National Police Agency taking over the civil defense infrastructure. [1]
In 2022, Taiwanese civil defense units had 420,000 registered volunteers. [1]
In 2023 training shifted to more of a wartime focus with 70% of exercises dedicated to wartime scenarios and 30% of exercises dedicated to natural disaster scenarios. It had previously been a 50–50 split. [2]
The Civil Defense Act legislates the creation of civil defense units at four levels: city and county, district and township, state-run companies, and large companies, factories and schools. [1]
The Taiwan Agricultural Research institute maintains a "doomsday bunker" hardened against military attack which houses samples of all crops grown in Taiwan. [3]
Kuma Academy provides civil defense training to civilians in Taiwan. [4] Classes cover topics like first aid and media literacy (intended to combat disinformation from China). [5] Kuma Academy has also provided training in open-source intelligence and cybersecurity. [6] According to Kuma, their goal is "to decentralise civil defence." [7]
The Forward Alliance is a Taiwanese national security and civil defense think tank. The group runs workshops to train civilians in disaster response and civil defense. [8] [9] Following the beginning of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, public participation in training programs run by the Forward Alliance increased greatly. [10]
There are more than 117,000 air raid shelters in Taiwan, some dating back to the Japanese colonial period. During the Second World War an extensive network of bunkers and shelters was built across Taiwan to defend against allied bombing raids. [11] Many more obsolete shelters as well as military bunkers have been repurposed as commercial, artistic, or public buildings. [12]
The Taiwanese government publishes a civil defense handbook. An updated version was published in 2023. [13] [14]
In 2023 Canadian expat John Groot published Resilience Roadmap: An Emergency Preparedness Guide for Expats in Taiwan which focuses on civil defense from the perspective of a non-Taiwanese living in Taiwan. [15]
The Republic of China Armed Forces, also known as the ROC Armed Forces are the armed forces of the Republic of China (ROC) that once ruled Mainland China and now currently restricted to its territorial jurisdictions of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu Islands. They consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Military Police Force. The military is under the civilian control of the Ministry of National Defense, a cabinet-level agency overseen by the Legislative Yuan.
Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack.
The Republic of China Navy, also called the ROC Navy and retroactively as the Chinese Navy but colloquially as the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF).
The Sky Sword II, or TC-2, is a Taiwanese beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. It has an inertial navigation system, a data-link for mid-course guidance and active radar homing for terminal guidance, beyond visual range. It also has ECCM capability and can engage multiple targets. According to Su Tzu-yun, chief executive officer at the Center for Advanced Technology at Tamkang University, they are a cost-effective design which can perform a key role in Taiwan's defense strategy, and substantially offset China's air superiority. Some details of its design were revealed for the first time at the Paris Air Show in 2015. The pulse doppler radar seeker reportedly has a detection range of 9.3 km (5.8 mi).
National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology is a Taiwanese state owned corporation, formerly part of the Ministry of National Defense's Armaments Bureau, which is active in the development, manufacturing, support, and sustainment of various weapons systems and dual use technologies.
The Hsiung Feng IIE is a surface-to-surface land-attack cruise missile system developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Taiwan.
CSBC Corporation, Taiwan is a company that produces ships for civilian and military use in Taiwan. It is headquartered in Kaohsiung, with shipyards in Kaohsiung and Keelung. It was a state-owned enterprise before privatization via an IPO in 2008.
The CM-32 "Clouded Leopard", officially Taiwan Infantry Fighting Vehicle (TIFV), is an eight-wheeled armoured vehicle currently being produced for the Republic of China Army. It is based on the 6x6 CM-31 designed by Timoney Technology Limited of Ireland and is further developed by the Ordnance Readiness Development Center.
Many countries around the world have civil defense organizations dedicated to protecting civilians from military attacks and providing rescue services after widespread disasters. In most countries, civil defense is a government-managed and often volunteer-staffed organization.
The Han Kuang Exercise is the annual military exercise of the Republic of China Armed Forces in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu for combat readiness in the event of an attack from the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China.
The Chief of the General Staff is the chief of defence of the Republic of China Armed Forces in Taiwan.
Lungteh Shipbuilding is a Taiwanese ship and boat builder headquartered in Yilan County.
The NCSIST Chien Hsiang is a Taiwanese anti-radiation loitering munition developed and produced by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.
The defense industry of Taiwan is a strategically important sector and a significant employer. They primarily supply weapons and platforms to the Republic of China Armed Forces with few major weapons systems exported abroad. With foreign assistance the Taiwanese defense industry has produced fighter aircraft, missile systems, surface ships, radars, rocket artillery, armored vehicles, and small arms.
The Taiwan Agricultural Research institute is a research institute in Taiwan under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture.
In 1861, Prussia and the Qing dynasty signed the first Sino-German treaty during the Eulenburg Expedition. West Germany established diplomatic relations with the Republic of China in 1955. After recognizing the People's Republic of China in 1972, the two countries maintain unofficial diplomatic relations.
The Forward Alliance is a Taiwanese national security and civil defense think tank.
DronesVision is a Taiwanese arms manufacturer, specializing in militarized unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-UAV technologies.
Kuma Academy is a Taiwanese non-profit civil defense organization which provides training to civilians on a variety of topics.