Taiwan will take responsibility for its own self-defense. That was the message from President Tsai Ing-wen during her National Day address on Monday. She also said Taiwan would work jointly with its allies to maintain security in the region.
There has been growing international concern over maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait as China has been escalating military activity near Taiwan.
Tsai said that Taiwan is ramping up the mass production of precision missiles and high-performance naval vessels. It is also working to acquire various small, highly mobile precision weapons that will help Taiwan develop comprehensive asymmetric warfare capabilities.
She highlighted how domestic efforts to build aircraft and ships have achieved significant results in recent years, including progress on Taiwan’s indigenous submarine project. Taiwan’s first domestically developed and constructed 10,000-ton landing platform dock Yushan was officially delivered two weeks ago.
She said Taiwan has also established the All-out Defense Mobilization Agency to bolster military training capacity and enhance the readiness of Taiwan’s reserve force. The new form of organization gives them access to equipment and weaponry similar to that used by our active-duty troops.
The president also said that there has been an increasing interest among the general public in learning civil defense skills. Tsai said that protecting Taiwan’s territory is not just the work of the military alone. Tsai said that every citizen is a guardian of the nation.