Security: Conventional and Unconventional Forms

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The notion of security often centers around hard military power and capacity. However, today’s security threats extend beyond the military realm, including issues in cyberspace, labour, and migration across different regions and countries. In this special issue, we cover topics as wide as Taiwan’s cybersecurity, migrant workers and human security as well as conventional security in the form of military strength.

Against this backdrop, the Taiwan Research Hub has asked several experts from the US, Europe and in the Indo-Pacific to provide some insights on what the new administration might mean for their respective countries/regions, as well as to suggest some policy recommendations for the relevant stakeholders.

UK-Taiwan Cooperation in Cyber Security: Challenges and Opportunities

By Jing Bo-jiun and Wu Tsung-han

Emerging technologies such as accelerated computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) have advanced rapidly in recent years, enhancing economic efficiency and convenience. However, their widespread adoption also introduces significant cyber security risks.

While the UK and Taiwan have embraced AI and IoT, the interconnected nature and vast data proliferation of these technologies increase the potential for major cyber incidents. Furthermore, the growing threat of state-sponsored cyberattacks and espionage underscores the need for cooperation among like-minded states.

The UK and Taiwan have both made cyber security a top national security priority in response to growing digital threats. In 2021, the UK released its National Cyber Strategy 2022, reinforcing its goal to become a leading democratic cyber power. That same year, Taiwan published its second National Cyber Security Strategy Report, outlining its vision of building a resilient and trustworthy smart nation. Both countries had already developed comprehensive cyber strategies and roadmaps, focusing on strengthening cyber security frameworks and engaging the private sector in a whole-of-society approach.

This research examines UK and Taiwan cyber security strategies, assessing shared challenges and exploring opportunities for bilateral and multilateral cooperation to mitigate cyber risks and enhance resilience.

Download the policy paper by Jing Bo-jiun and Wu Tsung-han (PDF)

D-Day versus Everyday: A Balanced Shield for Taiwan’s Defence Against Multifaceted Threats

By Yenlin Wang and Chenwei Lin

Taiwan faces a dual and intensifying threat from the People’s Republic of China (PRC): persistent “Everyday” grey-zone coercion and the looming possibility of a full-scale “D-Day” invasion. While recent reforms—guided by U.S. strategic advice—have focused heavily on asymmetric defence capabilities, this paper argues that an exclusive reliance on asymmetry is insufficient. The two threat types are operationally interlinked; a strategy overly focused on denial risks degrading Taiwan’s ability to manage daily incursions, sustain public confidence, and deter broader conflict escalation.

Drawing on lessons from Ukraine and analysing Taiwan’s current posture, this study concludes that a balanced defence investment strategy is essential to address this dual challenge. While asymmetric systems provide a cost-effective means of denying actual invasion, conventional capabilities—such as fighter aircraft, naval platforms, and mobile ground units—remain critical for managing grey-zone pressure and projecting deterrence.

Download the policy paper by Yenlin Wang and Chenwei Lin (PDF)

The Cost of Migration: Making the Human Security Case for Migrant Workers in Taiwan

By Bonny Ling and Renee Te-Jung Chen

Taiwan’s foremost security concern is a state-centric view of security, which prioritises military capabilities, sovereignty protection, and territorial integrity in response to external threats. In this security landscape, the narrative is on national and civil defence. This conception of security, however, de-emphasises the aspect of security and vulnerabilities as experienced by the individual.

This personal lens of security – human security – is centred on individuals leading a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and having a decent standard of living. Human rights and human security are closely related concepts: violations of human rights undermine human security, while the protection of human security can underpin states’ responsibility to meet their human rights obligations.

Whilst human security has seen less prominence than other concerns for Taiwan’s defence, it can serve an important strategic role to Taiwan’s regional engagement. When the state-centric lens of security is complemented by a human-levelled view, additional channels for meaningful citizen engagement for why Taiwan matters to the Asia Pacific and the world emerge, aligning the rhetoric of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy on “People-to-People Exchange’’ with practices that truly promotes the human security elements of Taiwan’s labour migration relationships.

Migrant workers in Taiwan from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam – soon to also include India – serve as tangible human connections to important regional allies. Their participation in Taiwan’s labour force is indispensable to the island’s industries and social care. Through their personal and employment ties to Taiwan, this policy brief argues that various elements related to the financial (in)security of Taiwan’s migrant workforce undermine Taiwan’s broader ambitions to make the people-to-people argument for why the security of Taiwan matters to the world.

By not fully recognising the migrant workforce of Taiwan as a strategic national asset to build meaningful regional relationships through citizen diplomacy, Taiwan overlooks an important conduit for building regional and international support for its existence as a responsible global actor. We focus on the two most immediate, though not exclusive, practices that have a significant impact on a migrant worker’s financial insecurity related to their employment in Taiwan: migrant-borne recruitment fees and related costs and high remittance transactional costs above best-practice international standards.

Download the policy paper by By Bonny Ling and Renee Te-Jung Chen (PDF)