LEGISLATIVE GRILLING: While the defense minister answered questions about military doctrine and the ability to hold out against a PLA attack, he refused to discuss specifics
Taipei Times
Date: Feb 26, 2019
By: Aaron Tu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The nation’s armed forces can hold the line against China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Minister of
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) yesterday told the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
During a question-and-answer session, Yen was asked to evaluate the comparative military capabilities of Taiwan and China, three days after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told CNN that Taiwan was “capable of holding off any first waves of attacks” by China.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) asked what the military’s capabilities were to respond to a PLA “first strike,” and whether it had the ability to mount a pre-emptive strike against China.
The nation’s two-staged military doctrine is to enact force protection, followed by the deployment of combat power, Yen told Lo. [FULL STORY]
