DEFENSE/Taiwan's military building multidomain denial capabilities: Report

Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Thursday released the 2025 National Defense Report, outlining plans to build a more "agile and resilient" military with a new focus on multidomain strategies to deter and block enemy forces.

In a pre-recorded video, Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), an associate professor at Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the report's new strategic priorities --including multidomain denial, a defense approach rooted in attrition and asymmetric warfare -- and its emphasis on strengthening the resilience of Taiwan's military and society set it apart from previous editions.

As an example of "whole-of-society resilience," Lin, one of the 11 experts who helped compile the report, cited this year's Han Kuang military exercises, which included segments designed to test whole-of-society resilience, such as operations of medical and daily-necessities rationing stations.

Meanwhile, Colonel Hsu Chih-hung (許志宏) of the MND's Department of Strategic Planning told a news conference Thursday that the multidomain denial focus aims to build a multilayered defense against a range of threats.

Guided by the principles of being "maneuverable, agile, lethal, cost-effective, and concealed," and driven by mission requirements, it seeks to build a mission-oriented defensive system that spans multiple domains -- land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace, Hsu said.

Although there is a chapter dedicated to China's military threats, some crucial recent developments -- such as the unveiling of new weapons systems at the Sept. 3 military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the Shandong and Liaoning aircraft carriers passing through waters east of Taiwan in June and crossing the Second Island Chain that extends from Japan to Guam and Indonesia -- were notably absent from the report.

Asked for comment, Department of Strategic Planning official Hsu Yun-chen (許云甄) said noteworthy developments in the Chinese military will be included in a separate report on China's military power, which will be published at a later date.

The MND is working on an English-language version of the biennial report, which will be available for download on its website.