Taiwan has learned two early lessons from the new war in the Middle East, with the island nation setting up a task force to study the impact of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas.
"Our initial assessments have led to some lessons. Firstly, intelligence work really is very important. We won't comment on whether [Israel] had any prior knowledge, but intelligence work is very important," said Taiwan's defense minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng.
Chiu revealed the existence of the task force on Thursday before attending a hearing of the legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee.
"Having intelligence allows you to make preparations, including for how one might prevent the conflict from happening in the first place. That's the first lesson," Chiu said.
He said the other lesson is the need to prepare while trying to avoid conflict altogether.
"Secondly, we've all seen media reports about the number of injuries and deaths, especially to innocent civilians. It's a tragedy. This is an important lesson and why we say we prepare for war but don't ask for war. We'll fight; we won't hide. But the common expectation is to avoid war," he said.
Chiu also stated another lesson from the Mideast war: Taiwan's small size can be an advantage in mobilizing troops in a short period during a conflict.
The time to mobilize soldiers can be shortened even further, he said, given Israel's ability to mobilize 300,000 troops at short notice.
Taiwan is also said to have 300,000 reservists, who are combat-ready and can be called upon during any potential confrontation with Beijing.
Since war broke out this past weekend in the Mideast, some with hawkish views in the U.S. have suggested that Taiwan needs to take its self-defense seriously.
"Israel shows what a country deeply serious about its self-defense and protecting its freedom looks like. Taiwan should take very careful note. America is most likely to help those who help themselves," wrote Elbridge Colby, a Defense Department official in the Trump administration, on X (formerly Twitter).
Taiwan's new task force on the Israeli-Palestinian war isn't the first such study group organized by its Defense Ministry. Taiwan has also been trying to learn lessons from the United States' support for Ukraine to develop its own defense strategy against any threat from Beijing.
In 2022, Taiwan's ministry set up a study group to learn lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war. That conflict has also increased the calls to boost the nation's defense spending. The need to prepare for conflict is now seen as a necessary measure—and a deterrent—to China's aggressive actions in the Taiwan Strait.
Over the past year, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been the subject of analysis at many academic and research events organized by Taiwan's ministries of defense and foreign affairs.
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Aadil Brar is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers international security, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian ... Read more
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