Taiwan has made significant strides in enhancing its civil defense by leveraging various resources and expertise from across society.
A high-level committee, established in June and elaborated upon in late September, is focused on integrating civil knowledge into defense policy. Uniquely for Taiwan, this group includes representatives from grassroots organizations that have been learning from Ukraine’s experiences in its conflict with Russia since 2022.
Many people in Taiwan remain unprepared for a potential attack from an increasingly assertive China. For instance, few would know how to respond if bombs began exploding in their vicinity.
In outlining the committee’s objectives, President Lai Ching-te emphasized the importance of equipping citizens with the knowledge to deter a looming threat. By enhancing resilience, Taiwan aims to prepare for both natural disasters and national defense challenges.
The Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee comprises 23 members, including the defense minister and seven other ministers, with President Lai serving as chair. The committee also features representatives from Taiwan’s space agency, the Association of Hackers in Taiwan, Google Taiwan, and various religious groups, including Buddhist and Christian organizations. Additionally, the chairperson of PX Mart, one of Taiwan’s largest supermarket chains, serves as an adviser.
‘The composition of the committee was a recognition that emerging national security challenges require new approaches to risk management and that must include whole-of-government coordination—both horizontal and vertical—as well as a whole-of-society coalition,’ said committee member Enoch Wu. He heads Forward Alliance, one of the grassroots NGOs that prepares Taiwanese civilians for natural disasters and war.
Taiwan’s capacity to coordinate with its military and government in the face of a military threat is significantly behind that of Ukraine and Israel, which is often seen as the benchmark globally.
While this marks an initial step for Taiwan and progress may be gradual, it represents an important advancement. By uniting a wealth of talent to enhance civil defense, the government should be better equipped to mobilize society when necessary.
Before the committee held its first meeting behind closed doors on 26 September, President Lai in a speech promised to ‘expand the training and utilisation of civilian forces’ and ‘improve the readiness of our social welfare, medical care and evacuation facilities, and ensure the protection of information, transportation and financial networks’.
The committee is exploring ways to enhance food supplies and safeguard critical infrastructure to ensure continued operation during emergencies. Taiwan’s interior minister noted that the government has pinpointed 310 facilities that require protection or redundancy.
President Lai announced that the committee will conduct tabletop exercises in December and an unscripted civil defense drill in March 2025. In June, it will collaborate with the military for the annual Huang Kuang Exercise, which aims to demonstrate readiness against potential attacks from China.
Participation in the committee provides a platform for two grassroots organizations dedicated to preparing Taiwanese civilians for national emergencies. Since 2022, Wu’s Forward Alliance has partnered with Spirit of America, an independent NGO that has supported Ukraine in collaboration with the US Department of Defense. Spirit of America has offered trainers and experts to assist Forward Alliance in training emergency first responders in Taiwan.
Since its establishment in 2020, Forward Alliance reports that 19,000 individuals have participated in its training workshops, which cover basic first aid, search and rescue, and team-based training for managing crowd safety and shelter operations. The organization has also trained over 1,300 Taiwanese law enforcement personnel in emergency casualty care and provided first aid kits to various police precincts.
