Civil defense in Taiwan
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 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Taiwan has a large network of air raid shelters. In the modern era civil defense includes both governmental and non-governmental organizations. Prominent non-governmental organizations include Kuma Academy and the Forward Alliance.
History
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.{{Cite news |last1= |first1= |title=Civil defense reform needed, experts say |website=Taipei Times |publisher= |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2023/01/26/2003793176 |access-date=25 January 2023}}
In 2022, Taiwanese civil defense units had 420,000 registered volunteers.
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.{{cite web |last1=Yu |first1=Matt |last2=Yang |first2=Evelyn |title=Taiwan to stage the year's first civil defense drill in Taichung |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202304120025 |access-date=12 April 2023 |website=Focus Taiwan |date=12 April 2023 |publisher=}} In 2024 the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee was inaugurated. The Committee's purpose is to organize and standardize civil defense efforts across Taiwan taking a whole-of-society approach to the problem.{{cite web |last1=Yun |first1=Chen |last2=Pan |first2=Jason |title=First whole-of-society meeting held |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/09/27/2003824418 |access-date=8 October 2024 |website=Taipei Times |date=27 September 2024 |publisher=}} The committee held their first tabletop exercise in December 2024.{{cite web |last1=Garcia |first1=Sam |last2=Chun-chung |first2=Wang |title=Tainan civil defense drills to test emergency response capabilities |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2025/03/19/2003833700 |website=taipeitimes.com |publisher=Taipei Times |access-date=19 March 2025}}
Civil defense organizations in Taiwan have been inspired by Ukrainian resistance to Russian invasion and have incorporated lessons learned in Ukraine into their own training.{{cite web |last1=Malloy |first1=Austin |last2=Standish |first2=Reid |last3=Shevchenko |first3=Sashko |title=Taiwan's Civil Defense Groups Take Inspiration From Ukraine War |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/taiwan-ukraine-war-invasion-defense-xi-prepare/33336073.html |website=rferl.org |publisher=Radio Free Europe |access-date=18 March 2025}}
Government organizations
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.
The Ministry of Agriculture (Taiwan) is tasked with ensuring many aspects of Taiwan's food security, this includes ensuring a legally mandated three month supply of rice. Reserve food supplies are dispered around the country to make attacking them more difficult.{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Yimou |last2=Blanchard |first2=Ben |title=Taiwan mapping out food plans in the event of war |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2024/10/23/2003825738 |access-date=22 October 2024 |website=Taipei Times |publisher=}} The Taiwan Agricultural Research institute maintains a "doomsday bunker" hardened against military attack which houses samples of all crops grown in Taiwan.{{cite web |last1=Chien-chih |first1=Chen |last2=Chin |first2=Jonathan |title=Doomsday vault housing 75,000 cultivars |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2023/06/10/2003801313 |access-date=17 June 2023 |website=Taipei Times |date=10 June 2023 |publisher=}}
In 2023 the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Health and Welfare (Taiwan) set up a reserve system for medical personnel.{{cite web |last1=Chin |first1=Jonathan |last2=Che-yu |first2=Wu |title=Taiwan to boost wartime medical resilience: MND |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2025/03/19/2003833667 |website=taipeitimes.com |publisher=Taipei Times |access-date=19 March 2025}}
Private organizations
= Kuma Academy =
File:Dr Puma Shen at Kuma Academy Lecture 24 Feb 2023.jpg at a lecture held by Kuma Academy]]
Kuma Academy provides civil defense training to civilians in Taiwan.{{Cite news |last=Wang |first=Joyu |date=2022-03-04 |title=In Taiwan, Russia's War in Ukraine Stirs New Interest in Self-Defense |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-taiwan-putins-war-in-ukraine-stirs-new-interest-in-self-defense-11646402103 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-10-10 |work=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}} Classes cover topics like first aid and media literacy (intended to combat disinformation from China).{{Cite news |last=Philbrick |first=Ian Prasad |date=2022-06-19 |title=A Looming Threat |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/19/briefing/taiwan-china-russia-ukraine.html |access-date=2022-10-10 |issn=0362-4331}} Kuma Academy has also provided training in open-source intelligence and cybersecurity.{{Cite news |last1=Allen-Ebrahimian |first1=Bethany |title=Taiwanese citizens prepare for possible cyber war |website=Axios |url=https://www.axios.com/2022/09/27/taiwanese-citizens-training-cyber-war-china |access-date=27 September 2022}} According to Kuma, their goal is "to decentralise civil defence."{{Cite news |last=Davidson |first=Helen |date=2022-10-09 |title=Taiwan's citizen warriors prepare to confront looming threat from China |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/09/taiwans-citizen-warriors-prepare-to-confront-looming-threat-from-china |access-date=2024-10-24 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}
= Forward Alliance =
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.{{Cite news |last=Davidson |first=Helen |date=2021-09-22 |title=Second line of defence: Taiwan's civilians train to resist invasion |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/22/second-line-of-defence-taiwans-civilians-train-to-resist-invasion |access-date=2024-10-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news |last1=Kwan |first1=Rhoda |last2=Jett |first2=Jennifer |title=China is not about to invade Taiwan, experts say, but both are watching Ukraine |website=NBC News |publisher= |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-taiwan-ukraine-rcna17964 |access-date=29 April 2022}} Following the beginning of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, public participation in training programs run by the Forward Alliance increased greatly.{{Cite magazine |last1=Tso |first1=Natalie |title=Taiwan's Civilian Soldiers, Watching Ukraine, Worry They Aren't Prepared to Defend Their Island |magazine=Time |publisher= |url=https://time.com/6158550/taiwan-military-china-ukraine/ |access-date=29 April 2022}}
Shelters
File:Jincheng - tunnel - DSCF9518.JPG]]
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.{{Cite news |last1=Everington |first1=Keoni |date=4 November 2020 |title=Taiwan to create site listing 117,000 air raid shelters in case of Chinese attack |website=Taiwan News |publisher= |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4045348 |accessdate=5 November 2020}} Many more obsolete shelters as well as military bunkers have been repurposed as commercial, artistic, or public buildings.{{Cite news |last= |date=10 January 2020 |title=Taiwanese repurpose old bunkers into sheds, parks and photo-op sites |website=The Japan Times |publisher= |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/10/asia-pacific/taiwanese-bunkers-photo-ops/ |url-status=live |accessdate=5 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110102158/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/10/asia-pacific/taiwanese-bunkers-photo-ops/ |archive-date=2020-01-10}}
Publications
The Taiwanese government publishes a civil defense handbook. An updated version was published in 2023.{{cite web |last1=Teo |first1=Angie |last2=Blanchard |first2=Ben |title=Taiwan civil defence handbook includes tips on identifying Chinese soldiers |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-civil-defence-handbook-includes-tips-identifying-chinese-soldiers-2023-06-13/ |access-date=7 December 2023 |website=Reuters |publisher=}}{{cite web |last1=Everington |first1=Keoni |title=Taiwan's new civil defense handbook adds tips on spotting Chinese soldiers |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4917652 |access-date=7 December 2023 |website=Taiwan News |date=13 June 2023 |publisher=}}
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.{{cite web |last1=Lin |first1=Sean |title=Canadian author launches civil defense e-book for expats in Taiwan |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/cross-strait/202312030013 |access-date=6 December 2023 |website=Focus Taiwan |date=3 December 2023 |publisher=}} A second edition was released in 2025.{{Cite web |last=John |first=Big |date=2025-03-03 |title=UPDATE: RESILIENCE ROADMAP (V2.0) |url=https://thecultureshack.blog/2025/03/03/update-resilience-roadmap-v2-0/ |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=The Culture Shack |language=en}} This second edition was also made available as a free ebook.{{Cite web |title=Resilience Roadmap |url=https://flickerwell.com/ebooks/p/resilience-roadmap |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=Flickerwell |language=en-NZ}}
== See also ==
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taiwan topics}}
{{Military of the Republic of China}}
{{Civil defence}}