Taiwan sets up task force to study Israel-Hamas war
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Taiwan's government has condemned the Hamas attack on Israel.
PHOTO: AFP
TAIPEI - Taiwan has set up a task force to draw lessons from the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel,
Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has come under increasing military and political pressure from Beijing, including two major sets of Chinese war games near the island since August 2022
It has heightened fears of a conflict that would have global ramifications.
There are major differences between the threat Taiwan faces from China and what is happening between Israel and Hamas. For one thing, China would have to cross the Taiwan Strait to invade the island.
However, the conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas has focused attention on the possibility of a Chinese attack.
Asked by reporters at Parliament what lessons Taiwan has learnt from Israel’s conflict with Hamas, Mr Chiu said the ministry had set up a task force to monitor the situation.
"The initial (lesson) is that intelligence work is very important. With intelligence, many countermeasures can be made. A war can even be avoided," he said.
He said the fighting between Israel and Hamas demonstrated the horror of war. “It is everyone’s shared expectations to avoid a war.”
Taiwan’s government has condemned the Hamas attack, with President Tsai Ing-wen saying Taiwan remains “committed to working with like-minded countries to fight threats and violence and to safeguard freedom and democracy”.
Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections in January, which the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), has cast as a choice between war and peace.
The KMT has accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of taking Taiwan to the brink of war by intentionally provoking China, which it strongly denies.
On Sunday, KMT chairman Eric Chu said what happened in Israel has “made everyone feel what it means to be threatened by war”.
“We believe that peace across the Taiwan Strait is what everyone expects. No Taiwanese wants to see war,” said Mr Chu, whose party traditionally favours close ties with Beijing.
Senior DPP lawmaker Wang Ting-yu, responding on his Facebook page, criticised the KMT for not condemning China and its threats against Taiwan.
“These people are not pacifists; they have intentionally or otherwise become pawns of the aggressor,” he wrote.
Ms Tsai has overseen a military modernisation programme to bolster Taiwan’s defences.
Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison told a forum in Taipei on Wednesday that with China’s threats against the island, it was important to strengthen Taiwan’s resilience but that Taiwan needed to do more itself.
“Such urgency must also be demonstrated by Taiwan itself,” he told an audience that included Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.
He added that Israel was even smaller and faced constant threat as well.
“But they spend considerably more proportionally on defence than here in Taiwan.”
The overall defence budget proposed by the government for 2024 amounts to 2.5 per cent of Taiwan’s gross domestic product.
Israel’s amounts to 4.5 per cent for 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. REUTERS
