From government regulations to private autonomy, Taiwan invests in civil defense to respond to internal and external challenges – Taiwan Business TOPICS Business Magazine

As the world faces unprecedented challenges, the resilience of the Taiwanese people is also being tested.

The translation of this article is provided by Critical Comment Network

In April 2021, Taroko train No. 408 derailed when it was about to enter a tunnel in Hualien County, killing 49 people and injuring more than 200 people, shocking the country.

At the time of the incident, if the young passenger had been missing, the death toll might have been higher. During the accident, the young man calmly dialed 119 for help immediately and had a video chat with the on-duty personnel through Line to assist the rescue workers in assessing the situation at the scene.

To the surprise of the 119 duty officer, the passenger also asked if he could help triage the victim. Triage is a way of initially assessing an injured person to determine the urgency and nature of treatment the victim requires and is critical for rescuers to save lives.

“We have learned time and again from tragedies around the world that when disasters occur, private investment is the key to making a difference in the outcome of the disaster.” said Wu Yinong, founder of Taiwan’s national security and civil defense think tank “Magnificent Taiwan Alliance”. The organization’s training courses cover the basics of triage, as well as emergency medical care, search and rescue, personal safety and basic survival skills.

As a policy advocate and former special forces soldier, Wu Yinong founded the Magnificent Taiwan Alliance in 2020, aiming to raise people’s understanding of national defense issues and national security, and further involve ordinary people in civil defense and disaster relief work.

In an interview with the media in 2022, Wu Yinong said, “The best way to prevent military conflicts is to combine military and civilian preparations and demonstrate a credible national willingness to resist… We are working hard to unify the efforts of the whole society, including firefighting agencies and police It would be unwise for first responders, citizen groups and citizens to work together for the first time when a crisis strikes.”

Lawmakers and military experts believe the government has long lacked attention to civil defense, leading to the mushrooming of groups like the Magnificent Taiwan Alliance. Many Taiwanese are ignorant of the official civil defense system that dates back to the Japanese colonial period.

“People don’t realize that Taiwan actually already has civil defense forces… Of course, most of the participants are between 50 and 70 years old, and the four-hour training every year is more like singing karaoke, but they do exist. TH Schee, representative of the information-sharing NGO Open Knowledge Foundation Taiwan, told The Diplomat last year.

In Taiwan, civil defense is managed by the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police Service.According to the Civil Defense Law, civil defense teams are divided into various types – from counties and cities, private enterprises to schools, companies, factories and other groups with more than 100 people – whose mission is to “assist in the rescue of major disasters in peacetime”,maintain local security” and “handle air defense evacuation and evacuation and support military missions during wartime.”

Yuri Poita, a Ukrainian expert and visiting researcher at the Institute of Defense and Security, pointed out that the decentralization of power during war can give local governments, authorities and the people more space to take action and respond in a rapidly changing environment. .

“Take Ukraine as an example. There are about 25 civil defense brigades across the country. Each brigade is connected to a specific region of Ukraine, making the defense forces more flexible… In wartime, many things can be destroyed or damaged, so the defense forces should Be more flexible and less dependent on orders from the high command,” Poita said.

Although Taiwan’s civil defense structure also has power distribution, experts believe that the supervision of this design is very loose. Although the civil defense force should receive strict training from the Ministry of Interior and local governments, the report shows that this standard has not been met.

A survey by Taiwan Foundation in September 2023 found that only a small portion of the funds designated by local governments for civil defense were used for training. From 2020 to 2022, Taipei City allocates NT$24.68 million annually for civil defense, of which only NT$1.02 million (4%) is used for training volunteers, and the rest is used for social activities such as year-end banquets and special gatherings.

In addition, the survey also found that Taichung City, Kaohsiung City and Yilan County only spent 2%, 10% and 13% of their civil defense budgets on training respectively. DPP legislator Lin Ching-yi said in an interview with the media last year: “The more we understand Taiwan’s civil defense preparedness, the less confident we are in the level of preparedness.”

Another problem is the lack of standards for the number of civil defense personnel required per county or city. Therefore, the Taipei Civil Defense Force has 7,000 volunteers, while Taoyuan City, which is four times the size of Taipei, has only 2,500 volunteers.

In fact, the provisions of the Civil Defense Law and the Civil Defense Mobilization Preparation Law of the Ministry of the Interior contain almost no other guidance except that it clearly stipulates that civil defense personnel support the military in wartime and help the people respond to disasters in peacetime.

However, Wu Yinong and his team do not expect the government to increase its efforts. He analyzed: “Taiwan’s public leaders need to understand that the participation and empowerment of civil society is the key to civil defense transformation… If we build trust and partnership, and Instead of more government programs and focusing on command and control, we would do better.”

The instructors of the Magnificent Taiwan Alliance are all active first responders with practical experience and insight into crisis situations. “Through regular training and mutual learning between professionals and volunteers, we have established the connections, trust and confidence that are essential in any crisis,” said Wu Yinong.

He stressed, “Currently, there is one firefighter for every 1,500 people in Taiwan, and there are about 16,000 people across the country.” When rescue services are delayed, it is crucial for people to take action.

In 2023, the Magnificent Taiwan Alliance reached a milestone. The organization has officially trained 10,000 people, and thousands more have signed up for future courses. The alliance will also soon make its training manual public to help organizations train their employees independently. “Nothing better illustrates my concern for civil defense affairs than investing in people’s safety and security.” Wu Yinong said.

The game of psychological warfare

Another major contributor to Taiwan’s civil defense is Black Bear Academy, a non-profit civil defense training organization. With a generous donation from UMC founder Cao Xingcheng, the organization will begin providing civil defense training courses in 2022.

Last year, Black Bear Academy trained 35,000 people and engaged with 12 million people through media campaigns, publications and social media. The academy’s courses cover topics such as first aid, how to seek asylum in and around war zones, media literacy and open source intelligence, and cybersecurity training.

“For China, the best strategy is to buy Taiwan, or to win this psychological war by convincing the public that Taiwan cannot resist and can only become part of China,” said Zhu Fuming, CEO of Black Bear Academy.

Critical thinking is critical to national resilience. Huang Ting’an, brand manager of Black Bear College, mentioned that in 2019, the Chinese authorities flooded 20,000 accounts on Taiwanese social media and posted 1,500 discussions about Taiwan’s air pollution every day, claiming that Taiwan’s “corrupt” energy companies were the culprits of poor air quality, and Not possible to fix.

The accusations have deeply disturbed many people who trust information and triggered strong protests against the government by environmental groups. It can be seen that these controversies and conspiracy theories have obviously damaged Taiwan’s image.

The spread of false information can seriously damage social stability, and Poita warned that the same type of activities could also undermine Taiwan’s national security, such as creating negative perceptions of the armed forces.

“China can use propaganda, misinformation or disinformation to try to drive a wedge between the government and its citizens, and that’s exactly what Russia is using against Ukraine,” Poita said.

The original Black Bear Academy curriculum was based on the importance of distinguishing between friends and foes. “Now it’s evolving into a psychology course because I think China is trying to influence us in a different way, which is to try to undermine the Taiwanese sense of identity as an entity separate from China.”

Black Bear Academy also organizes many offline promotional activities, one of which is noteworthy is the Civil Defense-themed Children’s Expo held in multiple locations every month, with approximately 10,000 people participating each time. Through games designed by the academy, children practice first aid, remember important information about themselves and their parents to guide the police to find them in an emergency, and learn how to respond when they hear a siren.

In addition, Black Bear Academy supports the expansion of the civil defense ecosystem through the sale of related products. “We are committed to producing personal first aid supplies, hygiene products, food sources and water filtration products in Taiwan, and of course we hope that this effort is not limited to Taiwan.” In addition, through marketing efforts and participation in trade shows to expand Black Bear Academy’s customer base, A way to further spread the word about the importance of civil defense.

Another group, which most Taiwanese are not even aware of, can also help strengthen civil defense. Poita pointed out that dozens of Taiwanese participated in the Ukrainian war as volunteers, and one of them, Zeng Shengguang, even died on the battlefield.

Volunteers have a deep understanding of the brutal realities of war that academics and school teachers lack, especially given that today’s war patterns are very different from those of just a few decades ago. “When these volunteers returned to Taiwan, they told me that almost no one was interested in their experiences,” Poita said. “Taiwan does not seem to be taking advantage of this opportunity 100 percent.”

The practical lessons these volunteers learned from first-hand experience include that technology is vital to building a more effective defence—for civil defence, knowing how to operate a drone is almost as important as finding shelter and learning first aid .

“Artificial intelligence is being integrated into drones to make them smarter and more resistant to disruptive attacks… There is a huge demand for the correct operation of these drones. Not only must they be able to use them, but they must also be able to assemble them.” Ita said that involving the public in defense work, whether through technology development, training courses, or promoting critical thinking, will help people feel connected to Taiwan and its defense systems.

“Everyone will always have some differences of opinion with each other,” Wu Yinong said, “but I hope that the collective civil defense efforts will remind everyone that we are one, and this is our best hope for a safe and prosperous future for our country.”