MNA

Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien presided today over the Republic of China 2026 “All-Out Defense Education – Social Education” Seed Instructor Training Workshop. On behalf of Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung, he welcomed participants from various sectors and encouraged them to strengthen teaching capabilities through professional study, expand the foundation for promoting all-out defense education, build consensus among the public, and enhance Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience. The workshop was held this morning at the Bo’ai Camp. All-out defense affairs personnel recommended by various county and city governments, along with scholars from civil society, participated in the training. The curriculum covered topics such as “National Defense Policy,” “International Situation,” “Media Literacy,” and “All-Out Defense.” Experts and scholars including Director Su Tzu-yun and Researcher Lee Che-chuan from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research were invited to deliver special lectures and analyses. In addition, the Department of Strategic Planning explained the “Special Act on Defense Procurement,” enabling participants to understand its importance to overall national defense. Vice Minister Hsu stated that, facing the future task of promoting all-out defense education, seed instructors had to clearly convey national defense concepts to the public, explaining “why we fought and for whom we fought” — that was, to safeguard the homeland, protect their way of life, and ensure the safety of the 23 million people in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, while clearly recognizing the current security challenges. Vice Minister Hsu pointed out that the war in Ukraine had shown that national defense did not rely solely on military combat power; the key had lain in the will of the entire population to defend the country. Only through the joint participation of the whole society could overall defense strength be formed. He also emphasized that war depended not only on weapons and equipment but also required strong will and resilience to effectively respond to various challenges. Vice Minister Hsu further explained that the forms of modern warfare had evolved rapidly, and unmanned systems had become a key element in operations. Taiwan had possessed advantages in the relevant industry supply chain, particularly holding a critical position in the “non-red supply chain,” and should continue to strengthen development capabilities. At the same time, as Taiwan had been located at the core of the First Island Chain, it had needed to enhance overall defense capabilities in response to changes in the regional situation. Regarding the special defense budget, Vice Minister Hsu pointed out that the relevant planning had been carefully formulated based on overall operational requirements and had covered areas such as strike firepower, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, command and control operations, and sustained combat capabilities. He emphasized that all military buildup elements had to be constructed holistically and work in coordination to effectively enhance national defense combat power. Vice Minister Hsu stressed that the allocation of the special budget had been based on overall national defense development needs and coordinated with domestic industry capabilities. Through stable planning and long-term investment, it had strengthened defense self-reliance and supply chain resilience, ensuring the continuous advancement of military buildup and readiness.

The Ministry of National Defense held the “Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee Special Lecture and ROC Armed Forces AI Development Concept Seminar” yesterday (April 8) at the Bo’ai Camp. Vice Minister for Policy Hsu Szu-chien presided over the event and invited National Security Council Advisor Li Yu-chieh to provide guidance. Participants included members of the Ministry’s Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee (unit heads), commands of the three services, the National Defense University, and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology. The goal was to draw on practical experience from industry and academia to enhance the AI literacy of the ROC Armed Forces and lay a foundation for promoting AI development in national defense. In his remarks, Vice Minister Hsu stated that lectures only provided inspiration, while implementation was the key. He encouraged commanders at all levels to shift from passive to active approaches and actively apply diverse AI technologies. The Ministry of National Defense fully supported each unit in advancing their projects, hoping that through AI technology, administrative operational efficiency could be effectively improved and new momentum could be injected into the modernization of the ROC Armed Forces. The special lecture invited Dr. Chen Ling-Jyh, Director of the Department of Information Technology Services, Academia Sinica and Chief Executive Officer of the Taiwan AI Academy, to speak on the topic “Winning the Future: AI Literacy, Practice, and Security.” He explained the evolution of AI development from “perception” to “physical embodiment” and shared Academia Sinica’s practical experience, including how they built a “Large Language Model (LLM)” under strict cybersecurity controls, and how they developed speech recognition transcription systems, question-and-answer robots, and document verification tools to effectively resolve pain points in public administration and simplify operational processes. Regarding military applications, Dr. Chen specifically proposed the “Nine Reminders for Promoting Defense AI,” which covered core concepts such as infrastructure resilience and human-machine collaboration. He also explained the risks and challenges of introducing AI, reminding all units to establish mechanisms for verifying the authenticity of information and to strictly prevent the leakage of sensitive data. At the same time, he emphasized that introducing AI technology was an urgent and important task. Only by accelerating the implementation and application of the technology could the digital transformation of the ROC Armed Forces be effectively strengthened. The Ministry of National Defense stated that the AI Project Office’s organization of this special lecture and comprehensive seminar helped integrate common needs across units and initiated the process of advancing the ROC Armed Forces toward digital development.