Taiwan strengthens its security team

Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen has strengthened her national security team, signalling a fresh resolve to tackle long-delayed defence reforms and a new push for improving stalled dialogue with China.

Chiu Kuo-cheng, a retired army general who heads the intelligence agency, was appointed defence minister and is expected to oversee reforms to the country’s large but weak reserve force — a “top priority” according to a spokesperson for the president.

The reshuffle came as the defence ministry said eight Chinese fighters had entered Taiwan’s self-declared air defence zone on Friday, an unusually aggressive move even compared with the regular air incursions by China’s military over the past year.

China claims Taiwan as its territory and threatens to use military force to bring it under Beijing’s control if it resists unification indefinitely.

Since Tsai became president in 2016, refusing to describe Taiwan as part of China, Beijing has stepped up its military pressure, disinformation and infiltration efforts.

Over the past year, as Washington boosted relations with Taipei and publicly voiced support, Chinese sabre-rattling has escalated. Beijing has sought to punish Taiwan by cutting dialogue and halting most exchanges such as tourist trips, dealing a blow to Taiwan’s economy.

The US, the main guarantor of Taiwan’s security, has long pushed Taipei to strengthen deterrence against a Chinese attack by bolstering its reserve force and training it to wage urban and mountain warfare should China invade. Defence experts in Washington have complained of a lack of resolve in Taipei to address the issue.

Under the Taiwan Relations Act, a US law enacted after Washington switched official recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, the US is obliged to help Taiwan defend itself.

The newly named defence minister, who has served as Chief of the General Staff and previously headed the Reserve Command, graduated from the US Army War College in Pennsylvania. The presidential spokesman said Chiu’s ability to communicate with the US would help in bilateral co-operation with Washington “on various defence projects”.

Chen Ming-tong, an expert in relations with China, will move from his post as chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan’s cabinet-level China relations body, to replace Chiu at the National Security Bureau.

“The most important task of the National Security Bureau is the grasp and understanding of China,” a spokesman for the president said on Friday, adding that she also expected Chen to lead the reform of the country’s intelligence service.

Chiu Tai-san, a former MAC deputy chairman and justice minister known for his pragmatic stance on cross-Strait relations, will replace Chen as China policy chief. Sixteen years ago, when China and Taiwan did not have regular direct air links, Chiu helped negotiate the first direct charter flights over the lunar new year holiday. Chinese scholars and Taiwanese businesspeople with investments in China praised him for his pragmatism and willingness to listen.

Tsai’s spokesperson said on Friday that the president hoped that under Chiu and with the coronavirus pandemic being brought under control, people on both sides of the Strait could “gradually resume normal, orderly exchanges”.