Defense News

Department press release of the Ministry of National Defense
Time: March 5, 2023 at 20:00

In response to the legal revision if the All-out Defense Mobilization and Preparation
Law, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) stated today that the announcement
of draft amendments will end at 24:00 tomorrow (6 th ), and it will coordinate with the
relevant ministries and committees to review the contents of the provisions, taking
into consideration opinions of the general public as well as the laws and regulations
of democratic countries worldwide. As such, amendments should fully realize social
communication in a more prudent and rigorous way, and ensure national defense
mobilization mechanisms.

The MND initially stated that democratic countries worldwide have similar
mobilization laws and regulations from the viewpoint of national security, such as
the Strategic and Important Material Reserve Act of the United States, the
Emergency and Preparatory Resource Management Act of South Korea, and the
Federal Requisition Law of Switzerland, a neutral state. The main purpose such laws
is to ensure necessary preparations in times of peace so there are gaps left during a
war, and the overall strength of a country can be effectively exerted to ensure safety
in event of an emergency.

The MND further pointed out that the All-out Defense Mobilization and Preparation
Law (the "All-out Mobilization Law") of our country is not a new law; it has been in
effect for 22 years. Two small revisions were made respectively in 2014 and 2019.
However, some outdated provisions remain. To modernize and manage potential
uncertain risks, a responsible government must enact a set of emergency legal
systems to enter into effect in a state of emergency. At constitutional level, our
president is authorized with emergency orders; as for statute and legal level, the
emergency response mechanism in the Disaster Prevention and Relief Law and
Infectious Disease Prevention and Rescue Law also constitute part of emergency
legal systems. It is only by enacting emergency laws and regulations integrated at all
levels can we have sufficient mobilization capacity to withstand the challenges of
war and disasters Nonetheless, how we fully implement and amend the law is
crucial. The aim of the MND is to revise the law to further strengthen overall
resilience, expand relevant supporting facilities, and improve the overall
mobilization mechanism of our country.

The MND would also like to clarify again that the focus of the legal amendment is
to ensure civilians of our country can, when faced with new types of information
and cognition warfare, effectively collaborate to ensure the transmission of correct
information during wartime, and avoid false information from causing
misunderstandings. The so-called "media strangulation" in the name of the
amendment to the law is untrue. Soldier-workers of military factories are
responsible for the production of weapons and ammunition during wartime, not
students. The state will not "put children onto the battlefield." As the legal basis for
the mobilization of nationals in emergency situations such as war, it will not, in no
way, shape, or form, affect the freedom and rights of people during peacetime.

The MND has also emphasized that the better the country is prepared, the more
accurately and effectively it can respond to emergencies and protect people's rights.
As noted in Sun Tzu's Art of War, "We should not take the chance in thinking the
enemy won't come, as we rely on our war-readiness to confront; we won't trust that
the enemy won't attack, as we rely on war-readiness so that the enemy won't attack."
The MND continues to collect suggestions from the general public, and refer to the
experiences and laws from major democratic countries, cross-ministerial
coordination, and other forms of social communication before submitting the legal 
amendment to the Executive Yuan for deliberation.