Taiwan's security: Civilian control and external threat

Since the early 1990s, Taiwan has successfully transformed civilian control over its military with its democratisation. Despite some constraints, the elected administrations and congress have influenced on defence affairs, and each of the four elected administrations has demonstrated distinct charac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCogent arts & humanities Vol. 10; no. 1
Main Author Wu, Shang-Su
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Cogent 31.12.2023
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects
China
Civilian control
conscription
defence strategy
Defense
Democratization
external threats
Humanities
International relations
Political leadership
Society
Taiwan
Threats
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Summary:Since the early 1990s, Taiwan has successfully transformed civilian control over its military with its democratisation. Despite some constraints, the elected administrations and congress have influenced on defence affairs, and each of the four elected administrations has demonstrated distinct characteristics. In parallel, the external threat from China has been risen with its military expansion. This paper analyses how civilian leadership in Taipei has addressed the external threats and incorporated non-military factors in defence policies. Distinct national identities between administrations have led to different and inconsistent strategies and disruption of military modernisation. The popularity of various national measures, such as reducing conscription and shifting energy policies, has also eroded Taiwan's deterrence. With its expanding military inferiority to China, Taiwan has an increasingly narrow margin for making mistakes in its defence policy.
ISSN:2331-1983
2331-1983
DOI:10.1080/23311983.2023.2220211