President Lai presides over third meeting of Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee  

On the afternoon of March 27, President Lai Ching-te presided over the third meeting of the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee in Tainan. President Lai affirmed that through field exercises, we can evaluate preparedness in the committee’s five key areas and verify our capabilities regarding the deployment and response of civilian forces, neighboring county and city resource integration, and community disaster prevention coordination. From that process, he said, we can also identify problems and continue to conduct reviews and make improvements. The president indicated that the exercises are also connected to the upcoming 2025 Urban Resilience Exercises in that they allow central government ministries and agencies and local governments to readjust the pace of the exercises and use new thinking and strategic approaches to promote the exercises, thereby enhancing overall local resilience and response capabilities.

President Lai emphasized that defending democracy requires mustering every bit of strength and building whole-of-society defense resilience, which not only requires cooperation among the central and local governments, but also the vigilance and mobilization of every individual. The president expressed hope that the nation and all citizens will work together, unite, and cooperate to enhance Taiwan’s resilience.

A translation of President Lai’s opening statement follows:

Today, the Office of the President Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee has moved to Tainan to convene its third committee meeting and conduct field exercises based on real-life scenarios. First, I would like to express gratitude to all the advisors and committee members for their participation, and also thank our fellow citizens and friends as we collectively put a focus on the progress of whole-of-society defense resilience efforts.

To address threats such as natural disasters, military intimidation by foreign hostile forces, gray-zone aggression, and cognitive manipulation, Taiwan must continue to enhance its self-defense capabilities while simultaneously strengthening whole-of-society defense resilience. Only then can we respond to the challenges of major disasters and expanding authoritarianism.   

At the second committee meeting last December, we conducted tabletop exercises, with central government ministries and agencies and localities using scenarios that reflect real life to verify the preparedness of various government units, from the central to the local level, to respond to extreme conditions.

This morning, the Ministry of the Interior and the Tainan City government expanded upon the tabletop exercises from the last committee meeting by holding field exercises. This allowed our advisors and committee members to participate in the verification process and provide various suggestions for improvements.

These exercises went above and beyond the previous scripted exercises, and involved conducting field mobilization exercises based on real-life scenarios to verify the ability of the government and private sector to cooperate and respond to disasters.

The exercise scenarios involved giving the public advance warning to evacuate before a tsunami arrives, an unidentified explosion occurring within critical infrastructure, the hospital system being hacked, and cognitive warfare and the disruption of public security.

Through field exercises, we can evaluate preparedness in the committee’s five key areas and verify our capabilities regarding the deployment and response of civilian forces, neighboring county and city resource integration, and community disaster prevention coordination. From that process, we can also identify problems and continue to conduct reviews and make improvements.

These exercises proceeded from points to lines, and then expanded to planes, a model that Taiwan will actively promote. We have therefore invited observers, so in addition to our advisors, committee members, central government ministries and agencies, and various local governments, we have also included members of the foreign diplomatic corps stationed in Taiwan and domestic and foreign media.

These demonstration exercises have another important objective connected to the upcoming 2025 Urban Resilience Exercises, in that they allow central government ministries and agencies and local governments to readjust the pace of the exercises and use new thinking and strategic approaches to promote the exercises, thereby enhancing overall local resilience and response capabilities while ensuring that society and people’s livelihoods can continue as normal under extreme conditions.

I want to emphasize that regardless of whether it is the central government or local governments, as long as we prepare in advance, execute pragmatically, review repeatedly, and strive to improve our methods, we can maximize the value of field exercises so that whole-of-society defense resilience efforts are steadier and more substantial.

Today’s field exercises were completed successfully, and I want to express my gratitude to the committee’s three deputy conveners – Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao, Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安), and National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) – for directing the exercises. I also want to once again thank the administrative team, especially the Tainan City government team led by Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), and all participating partners. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication.

Strengthening whole-of-society defense resilience is currently a core policy for countries around the world to address crises and challenges. Whether it is natural disasters, public health, economic shocks, or even gray-zone aggression, enhancing resilience is the only way to ensure social harmony and stability, as well as continued national development.

In our efforts to enhance whole-of-society resilience, Taiwan will also actively cooperate and conduct exchanges with friends and allies. At the beginning of this month, a Global Cooperation and Training Framework workshop was held in Taiwan, taking whole-of-society resilience as a theme for the first time, and holding discussions with experts and scholars from 30 countries.

Going forward, Taiwan will continue to work together with democratic countries around the world to consolidate the resilience of global democracy and safeguard regional peace and stability. We will continue to share Taiwan’s innovations and valuable experiences with the international community so that countries around the world can better understand Taiwan’s efforts and determination.

I also want to emphasize that defending democracy requires mustering every bit of strength and building whole-of-society defense resilience. That not only requires cooperation among the central and local governments, but also the vigilance and mobilization of every individual. I hope that the nation and all citizens will work together, unite, and cooperate to enhance Taiwan’s resilience.

Today’s agenda will first have Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) report on the progress of items listed in the second committee meeting. National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Liu Te-chin (劉得金) will then follow with a report on the results of the field exercises held this morning. 

Afterward, I ask that our advisors and committee members please offer suggestions regarding the various components of this morning’s exercises, or areas where whole-of-society defense resilience could be further strengthened. Together, we are steadily moving toward our common goal.

Following his statement, President Lai heard the report on the progress of items listed in the second committee meeting by Minister Liu, who also serves as one of the committee’s executive secretaries, and the report on the results of the field exercises by Deputy Secretary-General Liu. Afterward, President Lai exchanged views with the committee members regarding the content of the reports.