Taiwan’s Civil Defense: The Race for Preparedness

The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) is pleased to invite you to a panel discussion titled “Taiwan’s Civil Defense: The Race to Preparedness.”

As the threat of invasion looms, Taiwanese activists have set about preparing their communities for resilience and resistance in the event of war. Civil defense calls for close cooperation between grassroots citizen groups and the government—however, much of Taiwan’s civil defense preparedness has been marshaled by civil society groups that maintain only tenuous connections to the government and military. This seminar will provide an in-depth discussion of ongoing initiatives in Taiwan’s civil defense, featuring four experts in the field. Kuo-chun Hong, leader of Watchout Co., will discuss the civil defense work of both his own organization and other civil defense NGOs. Taiwan’s civil defense groups have benefited from the support of foreign organizations, and Spirit of America’s Joshua Brandon will share how his US-based NGO funds and develops Taiwan civil defense initiatives. Taiwan’s government under Tsai Ing-wen made limited steps towards collaboration with civil defense groups, and Fanny Chao—a former national security analyst in the Tsai Administration—will discuss the state and direction of the government's planning related to civil defense. Finally, Marta Kepe of the Rand Corporation will reveal lessons that Taiwan can glean from Ukraine’s potent civil defense ecosystem.

The event will be held at the GTI office located at 1836 Jefferson Place NW in Washington DC (approximately one block from the Dupont Circle Metro). Doors will open at 11:30 AM, and the event will begin at 12:00 PM. If you plan on attending in-person, please RSVP by September 23, as seating is limited. Light refreshments will be provided. Please direct questions or concerns to Program Manager Adrienne Wu at [email protected].

**Media: Please contact Adrienne Wu at [email protected] if you would like to bring additional crew members or equipment, so that we can be sure to accommodate you.

The Panelists:

Kuochun Hung is the chief operating officer and former chief editor of Watchout Co., an independent media outlet dedicated to promoting civil defense awareness. He is also the co-editor of Civil Defense Guide and Active Civil Defense Guide, two civil defense manuals published by Watchout. Watchout’s mission is to raise public awareness and foster engagement in political processes to help build a better Taiwan. Established in 2013, Watchout focuses on legislative monitoring, media literacy, fact-checking, and hybrid warfare. Hung has spent years working on issues related to China's influence and information operations in Taiwan. Before joining Watchout, he served as the director of policy at Citizen Congress Watch, a watchdog NGO committed to improving legislative transparency in Taiwan.

Marta Kepe is a senior defense analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. Marta’s work focuses on irregular warfare, civilian-based resilience and resistance, and military capability analysis. Much of Marta’s work relates to studying the intersection of military and civilian resources in terms of building resilience and response capabilities in a military crisis or war. Her recent work includes analyzing resilience and resistance in the Baltic states and Ukraine, exploring great power competition and influence across multiple regions, and studying allied and partner interagency capabilities and industrial power. Marta is a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. She was a 2023 Irregular Warfare Fellow at the Modern War Institute, Westpoint. She previously worked for the Latvian Ministry of Defence and the NATO Advisory Team in Kosovo. She received her MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University.

Fanny Fang-Yi Chao is an expert in contingency security for Taiwan. She most recently served as an assistant analyst on national security issues in Taiwan's government, focusing on defense. Prior to this role, she worked as a policy assistant in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, concentrating on foreign affairs and defense policy. Currently, Ms. Chao is a non-resident fellow at the Research Institute of Democracy, Security, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a think tank established by Taiwan's government. She is also a Master of Arts candidate in Asian Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

Joshua Brandon joined Spirit of America in January 2019 as part of the Middle East and Central Asia team. Since 2020, he has served as the regional director for Spirit of America’s Indo-Pacific program, managing a diverse portfolio of venture-style assistance projects across the region, including Taiwan, the Philippines, Mongolia, India, Laos, Vietnam, Palau, and Myanmar. Since 2021, He has led the organization’s “Whole of Society” campaign in Taiwan, working closely with civil society and government partners to pilot and scale programs in training and mobilizing civilian volunteers, improving government crisis response, and building digital resiliency and regional connectivity. Prior to Spirit of America, he served as a US Army infantry officer, during which time he was awarded the Silver Star and two Bronze Stars with valor devices. Joshua was an organizer at the Sierra Club, where he worked on veteran mental health and conservation issues. He has also served as an independent consultant in a diverse range of fields, including conservation and wildlife trafficking, veteran mental health research at the University of Washington, tactical mission command training, and adventure history as a sponsored athlete ambassador for Outdoor Research. Joshua attended The Citadel where he earned a bachelor’s in history. He earned a master’s degree in international affairs and an MBA from the University of Washington.

The Moderator:
Benjamin Sando is a research fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute. He was previously a research fellow at the Taiwan NGO Doublethink Lab, investigating PRC foreign influence strategies for the China Index project. He is concurrently a student within the Georgetown University Master of Asian Studies program and took a leave of absence to carry out research in Taiwan. Mr. Sando previously worked for two years in Seoul, South Korea, in research positions at the ROK National Assembly Research Service and the Yonsei Institute for Sinology. He is proficient in Korean and pursuing fluency in Mandarin. A dual US-UK citizen, Mr. Sando grew up in London before moving to California to earn a BA in international relations at Stanford University.

Host or Publisher Global Taiwan Institute