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Taiwan’s Civil Defense system needs rejuvenation
Civil Defense and Emergency Preparedness in Taiwan
Leo Lin
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Since the Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022, the role of citizens in preparing for possible warfare across the Taiwan Strait has been a popular topic in Taiwan. This point was highlighted in August, after a visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to which China responded by lobbing missiles into the waters surrounding Taiwan (see Figure 1 on page 51). With the death and brutality of a military invasion on full display in Ukraine, and China’s willingness to emulate Russia’s example underscored by Beijing’s petulant muscle-flexing exercises, more and more average Taiwanese civilians are seeking a larger role in their own defense—and their own survival—in the face of an increasingly likely war launched by China. To that end, it is worth conducting a brief overview of the civil defense options available in Taiwan, and evaluating whether they are up to the task.
Aside from traditional military preparedness, civil defense must be a key component of Taiwan’s defensive capabilities. Generally speaking, Taiwan’s current laws allow citizens to participate in military operations in two ways. The first is to join military operations as a reservist. Of course, citizens must meet specific qualifications to serve as reserve military personnel and receive training. However, there is currently a critical shortage of reservists, with only about 300,000 who are combat-ready and who could conceivably join the battle on the front lines.
An ROC military serviceman takes part in night exercises.
photo: ROC MND
ROC Army personnel take part in live-fire artillery training.
photo: ROC MND
The second way is to volunteer their time in the field of civil defense. Taiwan’s civil defense law was enacted in 2001 to effectively leverage civilian volunteerism, develop self-defense and self-rescue capabilities for achieving disaster prevention and rescue in peacetime, and support military operations in wartime. However, this system is receiving much criticism of late, to the effect that most civil defense personnel are too old, and the training is insufficient. In addition, many people are confused about the role of civil defense in Taiwan. Foreigners often make the mistake of comparing civil defense in Taiwan to the US National Guard, or an American militia. It could not be further from the truth. Since the law of the Republic of China (ROC) prohibits citizens from owning firearms, civil defense in the ROC is very different from the idea of civilian soldiers: rather, it is more about volunteers supporting government operations. The core formation and function of civil defense forces in Taiwan demands clarification in order to tackle some of this confusion.
There are three areas of civil defense in Taiwan that are often a source of confusion among citizens, as well as government officials. The first is the very meaning of the term civil defense. The English term refers to a group of people who, though not military, are trained to protect and help in an enemy attack or natural disaster. In contrast, the concept of civil defense in Mandarin Chinese is often confusing. In some cases, it is mistakenly conflated with the term All-out Defense, which refers to military and administrative mobilization. Nor is civil defense a type of civilian armed force—there are no civil-military or paramilitary organizations in Taiwan. As mentioned, the current gun-control laws restrain all law-abiding citizens from owning firearms for all but a very few, tightly controlled purposes. Given these conditions, civil defense, in Taiwan’s context, refers to unarmed volunteers who assist with emergency preparedness and support military operations in peacetime and war. The National Police Agency under the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for civil defense matters. Another source of confusion is the organizational names. In a broad sense, “civil defense” assists with police and fire operations in peacetime, and supports military operations when at war. In a narrow sense, “civil defense” deals with air defense protection, air raid shelter management, and assistance in major disasters. Two similar names appear in relevant regulations, which translate to “Civil Defense Corps” and “Civil Defense Brigade.” The former appears in the “Civil Defense Act,” the primary law regulating civil defense missions. The term “Civil Defense Brigade” appears in the “Regulations on Civil Defense Corps Formation, Training, Exercise, Service and Support Military Service” and “Implementation Regulations of Formation, Training and Disaster Relief for Civil Defense Disaster Prevention and Rescue Groups, and Voluntary Disaster Prevention and Rescue Organizations.”
Civil Defense Brigades
Civil Defense Brigades are essentially one of the subgroups under the Civil Defense Corps, and they have the following missions: Performing air raid disaster protection, assisting in the management and maintenance of air defense shelter equipment, assisting with rescues in major disasters, assisting in maintaining local law and order, and supporting military missions during wartime. For Taiwan, the term “mobilization” refers to the entire country’s resources being mobilized to adapt to national defense needs and to deal with disasters and emergencies. Two major types of mobilization, also called “all-out defense mobilizations,” include “military mobilization” and “administrative mobilization.” Military mobilization, carried out by the Ministry of National Defense, is based on military objectives. Administrative mobilization, carried out by the departments directly under the central government and the local governments, focuses on integrating human, material, financial, and spiritual resources through the operation of administrative agencies.
According to the All-out Defense Mobilization Readiness Act, the Ministry of National Defense is in charge of military mobilization preparedness, whereas central and local governments carry out administrative mobilization preparedness. Here, civil defense falls under the category of “manpower mobilization,” under administrative mobilization preparedness. In Article 15 of the same Act, civil defense groups are considered as “military service support,” which is coordinated between the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of the Interior. In short, civil defense then falls under the category of “manpower mobilization” under “administrative mobilization.”
Participants learn how to deal with protestors at the 2022 National Defense Mobilization and Disaster Prevention Exercise in Yunlin County.
photo: ROC MND
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her delegation arrive in Taipei.
photo: ROC MOFA
Basic qualifications
In terms of personnel formation, people seeking to join the civil defense volunteer forces have to meet some basic qualifications. They must be between 20 and 70 years old, and they must meet the following conditions: they cannot already be active military personnel or currently receiving military training; they cannot be military reservists, or replacement soldiers for military operations; moreover, they cannot be discharged substitute military servicemen. Because of these restrictions, civil defense groups are primarily made up of senior citizens.
The organizational formation of civil defense forces is stipulated in the Civil Defense Act. There are two main types of civil defense task forces: the Civil Defense Corps and the Special Protection Corps. The former is organized by municipal or county governments, and the latter is organized by the railway, road, port, airport, telecommunications, power, oil refining, water companies, and other publicly or privately owned enterprises or institutions. Civil Defense Corps include two sub-groups. One is a volunteer group made up of citizens called “The Civil Manpower Task Force” (CMTF). Another group is made up of government employees who are also part of the Civil Defense Corps.
Currently, local governments in Taiwan have formed 22 Civil Defense Corps, totaling over 90,000 people, in which over 70,000 people are volunteers in the CMTF. According to the “Regulations on Civil Defense Corps Formation, Training, Exercise, Service and Support Military Service,” the CMTF includes five brigades: civil defense brigades, volunteer police brigades, traffic volunteer police brigades, neighborhood watch patrol brigades, and mountain volunteer police brigades. Local governments provide civil defense groups with training to improve their ability to assist in emergency events.
Regarding training for the CMTF, there are three types of training. The first type is basic training, which is provided during the inaugural year of the mayor of a municipality or county, and an eight-hour basic training that volunteers receive once or twice. The second type is in-service training, designed for each brigade and station of the Civil Defense Corps once or twice per year. All group members are required to participate, and each training session lasts four hours. Finally, leadership and management training is designed for personnel with the rank of squad leader or above, and is conducted once per year, for four to eight hours each time. The courses include foundational training courses (such as national defense education, basic knowledge of police duties and disaster response, and first-aid training) and self-arrangement courses (based on the needs of the local government). CMTF is also invited to participate in practice drills in conjunction with national defense and disaster rescue exercises.
In a broad sense, civil defense volunteers in CMTF support police and fire departments and assist in maintaining social order and safety, emergency preparedness, and relief work during peacetime. Some examples include assistance in anti-theft and antirobbery, guard duties, security duties, and police operations. During wartime, civil defense personnel support military operations. When war breaks out or appears likely, civil defense volunteers have missions such as assistance in the evacuation of people; distribution of goods; implementation of evacuation and control of traffic, lighting, and sound; assisting the military in the surveillance and reporting of air defense inspection, operations, and other related matters.
In Taiwan, two types of air raid warning systems have been adopted. First, Taiwan authorities have set up more than 1,400 air raid alarm stations nationwide. Most of these alarm stations can be controlled remotely, while some of them are operated manually. The second way is through a mobile phone SMS alert system. Citizens within the coverage of cell sites can receive warnings from central authorities. This means that when the enemy enters Taiwan’s airspace, the Ministry of National Defense can issue an audible air raid alarm through the alarm stations, while simultaneously alerting citizens on their mobile phones.
There are over 105,000 air defense shelters nationwide, with a capacity of more than 40 million people, or about twice the total population of Taiwan. Every year, Taiwan conducts drills, including the nationwide “Wan-An Exercise.” These simulations familiarize the public with the locations of air raid shelters so that in the event of war, people can quickly take refuge and reduce the casualty count.
There are many criticisms about the system as it currently operates. As mentioned above, one common complaint is that the civil defense members are, on average, far too old. Most younger people cannot be recruited due to the current laws barring reservists, and those in middle age generally have full-time jobs and families to look after, and don’t have the time or interest in dedicating what limited amount of free time they have to civil defense volunteer work. As a result, these groups are staffed mainly by retirees. A second criticism is that these volunteers do not receive sufficient training to give them the skills needed in an emergency. Civil defense members only receive between four and 16 hours of training every year, which is not nearly enough to respond to a life-anddeath situation. Third, another common charge is that many people who join civil defense groups have ulterior motives for doing so, such as building connections with influential government officials. In the past, it was not uncommon for a community’s civil defense groups to be dominated by members of the local gentry who wish to build up guanxi with local politicians and law enforcement officers, rather than an authentic desire to contribute to the nation’s defense.
Taitung County Civil Defense Corps Volunteer Brigade and Civil Defense Brigade’s regular training review activities.
photo: Taitung County Gov
Looking ahead, planners must seek ways to enhance civil defense in Taiwan. First, since civil defense teams are not expected to engage in active combat or urban warfare, the ROC government should focus on recruiting and training civil defense members. The government should actively encourage citizens to join local civil defense groups, using effective messaging as well as incentives. The selection and screening process must be reviewed, updated, and constantly revised. Moreover, local governments should provide their civil defense members with a practical training curriculum that reflects current and future needs. At the end of the day, it will be impossible for Taiwan to do any of this without allocating a much higher budget than what small amount is presently being spent on the current civil defense system.
A quantum leap in effectiveness could be achieved if the central and local governments were to decide to engage in partnerships with civil society, entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations: those at home and abroad. Various non-profit organizations have strengths and resources that can provide more positive impacts on the nation’s overall civil defense efforts, not only for government-recruited volunteers but also for the general public. The central and local governments should raise awareness among its citizenry, as well as among the thousands of expats who live in Taiwan, through an ongoing series of public events and engagement activities, such as demonstrations of disaster-prevention, emergency radio communications, and combat first-aid training courses, for example. Publicizing those events will ultimately attract more citizens to participate in the civil defense effort.
Taiwan has a lot of work to do if it is going to build up its national emergency preparedness and civil defense to the point that it will be able to handle emergencies or—worse yet—possible warfare. Given that the current laws do not provide a legal basis to establish civilian military forces, or allow citizens to possess firearms, Taiwan must work on raising awareness and offering quality training opportunities for citizens to develop useful skills during peacetime and wartime. Public education is also a key to the success of building up an effective civil defense force. Improving the general public’s morale will make it easier for local governments to recruit qualified and dedicated volunteers to join these civil defense groups. The central and local governments must also open the door to working constructively with civil society organizations, both foreign and domestic, to introduce more resources and new perspectives that will build up Taiwan’s civil defense capabilities and resilience. b
About the author
Dr. Leo S.F. Lin is an adjunct assistant professor at Ming-Chuan University. He can be reached for comment at leo.lin.washington@gmail.com.
ROC Army personnel take part in live-fire artillery training.
