Chiu Kuo-cheng, the Defense Minister of Taiwan, said on Thursday that Taiwan has set up a task force to study and draw lessons from the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, saying intelligence is key to containing war as the island works to counter China’s military threats.
Claimes by China as its territory, Taiwan has come under growing military and political pressure from China, including two major sets of Chinese war games near the self-ruled island since August 2022, intensifying fears of a battle that would have global ramifications.
Although there are main differences between the danger Taipei encounters from Beijing and what is happening between Israel and Hamas – China for example would have to cross the Taiwan Strait to raid the island – the battle has focused attention on the possibility of a Chinese invasion.
Asked by reporters at parliament about what lessons Taiwan has learned from Israel’s battle with Palestinian Hamas militants, Chiu said the ministry had set up a task force to monitor the situation.
Chiu said, “The initial (lesson) is that intelligence work is very important. With intelligence, many countermeasures can be made. A war can even be avoided.”
The fighting between Israel and Hamas showed the horror of war, and although the military was working to boost combat readiness, it would not conflict, he said.
He said that it is everyone’s shared expectation to avoid a war.
The Taiwanese government has denounced the Hamas invasion, with President Tsai Ing-wen saying Taiwan remains “committed to working with like-minded nations to combat threats and violence and to defend freedom and democracy”.
