Part 2. National Defense Policy

After considering the security environments in the surrounding areas as well as strategic developments of both this country and potential adversaries, the ROC Armed Forces are adopting resolute defense and credible deterrence as the concepts of military strategy, and shall employ a defensive posture and avoid provocation accordingly. However, where the enemy is determined to initiate military invasions and where war can no longer be avoided, the ROC Armed Forces shall integrate joint operational capabilities of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to defend national territories, safeguard national sovereignty, and ensure national security.

I. Military Strategic Missions

To accomplish the concepts of military strategy of resolute defense and credible deterrence, the ROC Armed Forces must implement the following missions in an effective manner:

( I ) Resolute Defense: Ensure National Security

In homeland defense operations, the ROC Armed Forces must survive the first strike, avert enemy's decapitation attacks, maneuver forces to counter strikes, and sustain all ongoing operations. In wartime, they will lead the joint operational force of all service branches to conduct fortified defensive, mutual support, and recapture operations to counter hostile air and maritime blockade, secure air routes and sea lines of communication, and maintain connection with the outside world, so as to sustain military might. Furthermore, guided by the principle of strategical sustainment and tactical rapidness and decisiveness, the ROC Armed Forces, strategically, will adopt a defensive posture to gain a temporal and spatial leeway to generate advantageous situations. Tactically, we shall utilize favorable conditions in force, space, and time to effectively counter enemy strikes, and maximize the potential of all-out defense so as to resist enemy invasions and ensure homeland security.

( II ) Credible Deterrence: Continue to Enhance Credible Capabilities

The MND has been maintaining a balanced level of training and combat preparation for its forces, and integrating operational capabilities of subordinate services' weapon systems, so as to improve joint operational performance and enhance overall military power. In addition, the MND has been developing coastal mobile long-range precision firepower, air defense, suppressive weapon systems, IO/ EW jamming, positioning, direction finding, and countermeasure systems. These systems shall be applied in tandem with innovative / asymmetric tactics and techniques to focus attacks upon critical enemy weaknesses, and maximize our weapon effectiveness, so as to deter the enemy from undertaking any military actions after considering costs and risks incurred.

II. Future Requirements for Defensive Operations

To accomplish the missions originated from the military strategy as mentioned above, we have comprehensively contemplated all factors, such as operational scenarios in the Taiwan Strait, characteristics of modern warfare, developments of military technologies and weapon systems, etc., to devise the principles of the future preparations for defensive operations of the ROC Armed Forces as follows:

( I ) Rapid Mobility

Force allocation, buildup, and deployment shall be implemented in a way to prevent enemy blockades, possible surprise attacks, decapitation strikes, and any other asymmetric techniques. Key focus is laid on the strengthening quick response and mutual support capabilities of each service's fire power, so as to establish stepwise a modernized defense force to the needs of our defensive operations.

( II ) Force Integration

Capabilities, force structure, command mechanisms, doctrines and manuals, tactics and techniques, as well as education and training of all services shall be planned and integrated according to a joint operational concept so as to multiply the total strength, and attain local battlefield superiority.

( III ) Agile Command and Control

Various weapon systems and platforms shall be more proficiently linked to shorten the decision making cycle of detection, processing, decision-making, and action, so as to allow the overall military force to have efficient and agile command and control, unobstructed real-time communications, as well as highly effective precision firepower.

( IV ) Infrastructure Protection

Facing the threat of possible high intensity sudden strikes from the enemy, the ROC Armed Forces shall do their utmost to backup and sustain the operational functions of all systems on the part of defense, and continue to bolster their critical infrastructure protection (CIP) measures in order to prevent paralysis caused by initial combat loss that may lead to inability to sustain military operations.

( V ) Innovative / Asymmetric Warfare

Given the widening gap between the military capabilities on either side of the Taiwan Strait, the ROC Armed Forces shall develop innovative / asymmetric warfare concepts to flexibly apply conventional and unconventional tactics and techniques to attack enemy weaknesses and critical nodes in order to change the outcome of the battle to our favor.

( VI ) Mobilization Preparation

Our Concept of military strategy dictates that regular forces conduct strikes while reserve forces defense homeland. Accordingly, the ROC Armed Forces shall seamlessly integrate manning, equipping, and training preparations for military mobilization. Furthermore, plans and measures for combining military mobilization and administrative mobilization shall be perfected in order to rapidly mobilize reservists and materials to support all service branches to accomplish defensive operations.

III. Force Buildup Planning Objectives

After reviewing future perspectives of our security environment in the region and potential threats from the enemy, the ROC Armed Forces, by taking into account of revolution in military affairs, have pinned down the force buildup planning objectives through contributing factors, including force structure, personnel quality, available defense resources, and requirements for defensive operations. The objectives are centered on improving overall joint operational capabilities for the ROC Armed Forces, and can be elaborated by following force buildup focuses: fundamental capabilities, innovative / asymmetric capabilities, force preservation, and disaster prevention and relief.

( I ) Fundamental Capabilities

Establish fundamental joint operational capabilities for all service branches in order to improve joint operational performance, and deter enemy's intentions to invade.

( II ) Innovative / Asymmetric Capabilities

Constitute innovative / asymmetric capabilities, which are concealed in peacetime, and revealed to exert their operational effect in wartime. These capabilities, when unleashed, shall be employed to attack enemy's critical weaknesses so as to delay, sabotage, or paralyze the enemy's operational tempo and capacities, and create our local superiority that maximize the combat strength of all service branches. By so doing, we may throw a compact but powerful punch to outfight a behemoth enemy.

( III ) Force Preservation

Secure crucial military infrastructure and weapon systems by concealing or maneuvering methods, and with force preservation measures, such as enhanced protection, deceptive camouflage, and decoys, etc., so as to prevent and reduce damages caused by the enemy's first strike, improve their survival in battlefield, and sustain their operational capabilities.

(IV) Disaster Prevention and Relief

Follow the principle of being capable of disaster relief in peacetime and war-fighting in wartime to establish and refine professional disaster relief capacity in dealing with complex disasters, so as to equip the ROC Armed Forces with capabilities to cope with both conventional and unconventional security threats.