>https://www.newsweek.com/taiwan-china-territorial-defense-force-ukraine-russia-1718432
Inspired by Ukraine, Taiwanese People Prepare for a China Invasion
In Taiwan, the war in Ukraine remains a constant theme on television sets across the country. No sooner had it begun in February than it animated concerns about the specter of an invasion by neighboring China.
Visceral images broadcast daily from Ukraine have helped many Taiwanese visualize the brutal realities of modern warfare. It turned a once abstract fear into a realistic possibility, and Ukraine's ongoing resistance into an opportunity to address their own readiness.
In the past four months, some of island's residents have rushed to sign up for first aid lessons and weapons training courses, privately run civil defense groups tell Newsweek. It's reflective of the public's sense of urgency, and they want the government to take notice.
Taiwan is China's foremost territorial claim; at one time or another, successive leaders in Beijing have articulated a desire to eventually exert political control over the island, which is today a democracy of 23.5 million people. It was only last week that a Chinese general vowed to "fight to the very end" if Taipei were to move away from semi-recognition under its Republic of China government in pursuit of de jure independence.
Observers don't agree on whether a Chinese Communist Party helmed by Xi Jinping is likely to move militarily against Taiwan in the near future. What's not in doubt is Beijing's development of capabilities to do so in the coming decades.
Given Taiwan's much smaller armed forces relative to those of the Chinese military across the Taiwan Strait, defense planners in Taipei and their counterparts in Washington have debated the most suitable military doctrine for the island's defense. They reached a further consensus on asymmetric warfare in 2021, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said in May.
The concept aims to disrupt the rhythm of the enemy's advance and prevent a fait accompli, the ministry said. It involves the use of high-end, mobile and survivable weapons systems—to include American-made Javelin and Stinger missiles—that strategists see as having proved highly effective in Ukraine's resistance against Russian forces.