Policy

Due to its international status, Taiwan cannot accede to the Mine Ban Treaty. Since 1999, officials have expressed Taiwan’s support for a ban on antipersonnel mines; Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou signed a declaration in August 2007 that supports a complete ban on antipersonnel mines.

At a meeting held on the margins of the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in November–December 2010, a representative stated that Taiwan still feels the need to keep stockpiles of antipersonnel mines due to uncertainty in its security situation but that the new government is encouraging and accelerating the people-to-people interactions between Taiwan and China, thus creating more favorable conditions for a total ban on landmines.[1]

In 2006, the Legislative Yuan enacted the Antipersonnel Landmines Regulations Act. It prohibits production and trade of antipersonnel mines,[2] sets a deadline for clearance of existing minefields (which was achieved in June 2013), and provides for compensation for future victims.[3] However, the law permits stockpiling of antipersonnel mines as well as their use “when it is imperative during war.”[4]

In June 2013, an ICBL delegation and members of ICBL country campaigns in Japan and Korea were invited to Taiwan for events celebrating the completion by Taiwan of its mine clearance obligation under the 2006 Act. During a meeting by the ICBL delegation with President Ma Ying-jeou at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, ICBL Executive Director Sylvie Brigot-Vilain encouraged Taiwan to fully incorporate the Mine Ban Treaty into domestic law. In 2009, a research project commissioned by the Ministry of Justice also suggested the government create an internal law which fully implemented the obligations in the Mine Ban Treaty.[5]

Taiwan has not provided details on the size or composition of its remaining stockpile of antipersonnel mines.[6] In June 2013, Vice-Defense Minister Liao Jung-hsing said Taiwan would not accelerate its stockpile destruction, citing the fact that “big powers like Russia and mainland China have not signed the treaty.”[7] However, the Vice-Minister also stated that since 2007 there has continually been a budgeted destruction of expiring mines, although he refused to reveal the amount destroyed per year.

The Kinmen Defense Command acknowledged that antipersonnel mines are stockpiled on the island. However, they noted that as these mines expire they are destroyed by a third party; once all the mines expire they will no longer have a stockpile. The use of the mines would require authorization of a minister or the president.[8] The amount and types of expired mines destroyed is considered a military secret.[9]

Policy

Due to its international status, Taiwan cannot accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In July 2008, the Ministry of National Defense stated that Taiwan could only ban cluster munitions if the Convention on Cluster Munitions gains universal support in the future and all countries ban their use. It said that Taiwan possesses cluster munitions as a measure against the military threat from China, which has not joined the convention. It also said Taiwan needs cluster munitions to attack enemy ships and landing craft in waters close to Taiwan, and to attack enemy airfields.[1]

In September 2011, the Research Bureau of the Legislative Yuan (Parliament) submitted a recommendation that cluster munitions be included in Taiwan’s Antipersonnel Landmines Regulations Act and proposed that the Ministry of National Defense destroy Taiwan’s stockpile of cluster munitions within eight years, which is the time period required by the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[2] The Ministry of National Defense opposed the recommendation and a spokesperson said, “Taiwan has to possess and stockpile cluster munitions to counter the military threat from China.”[3]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Taiwan has never used cluster munitions but it possesses a stockpile, has imported cluster munitions, and produces cluster munitions. It is not known if Taiwan has ever exported cluster weapons.

Taiwan produces two types of cluster munitions: the RT2000 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) and the Wan-Jian missile.[4] The RT2000 MLRS fires unguided surface-to-surface rockets that can utilize either cluster warheads or unitary high explosive warheads. The submunition in the three rocket types available for the launch system is reported to be the M77 dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM).[5] In 2013, a media report stated that the RT2000 MLRS were used during military maneuvers.[6]

The Wan-Jian is an air-launched missile containing 100–120 submunitions, with its own inertial navigation system and a range of 600km.[7] According to Taiwan’s National Defense Budget, the Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology has spent nearly TWD3 billion (US$103.5 million) on the Wan-Jian missile project; the missile had passed initial operational testing and evaluation by the Air Force in the first half of 2010; and indigenous fighter aircraft will be equipped with the Wan-Jian weapon system in the future.[8] In 2013, the Ministry of National Defense reported to the Legislative Yuan that the Wan-Jian missile was ready for its production[9] and would be deployed in 2014.[10] In March 2012, a Ministry of National Defense spokesperson informed the Monitor that Taiwan has no plan to transfer or sell the research and technology of the Wan-Jian missile to other countries.[11] In June 2013, an officer at the Ministry of National Defense informed the Monitor that the weapon would not be used against civilian targets in time of war.[12] Wan-Jian is scheduled to be produced in Taiwan in 2015.[13]

It has been reported that the Ministry of National Defense started to conduct research on production of cluster munitions in the late 1990s and began fielding systems in 2006.[14] The Military News Agency reported that Taiwan used cluster munitions in military training maneuvers in 2006 and 2007.[15]

In September 2011, the United States (US) Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible sale to Taiwan of 64 CBU-105 Sensor Fused Weapons.[16] As of 1 July 2013, the sale had not been finalized.[17]

Taiwan has imported a large number of air-delivered cluster bombs from the US. According to a standard reference work, Taiwan possesses US-made CBU-24, CBU-49, CBU-52, CBU-58, CBU-71, and Rockeye cluster bombs.[18] The Taiwanese media has also reported that Taiwan has Rockeye cluster bombs.[19] Taiwan has also imported from the US Hydra-70 air-to-surface unguided rocket system, but it is not known if the ammunition types available to it include the M261 Multi-Purpose Submunition rocket.[20]

In April 2013, the armed forces used 81 DPIC MLRS in training exercises. It is not known if the area was cleared of unexploded submunitions after use.[21]

There is no public information regarding the number of cluster munitions in Taiwan’s stockpile. Taiwanese officials have informed the Monitor that information on the number and types of cluster munitions possessed by Taiwan is a military secret.[22]

Contamination and Impact

Taiwan’s mine contamination was a result of military emplacement of mines on the beaches and coastline of the islands of Kinmen and Matsu to resist possible invasion from China. These have been largely cleared. Taiwan also has unexploded ordnance (UXO) resulting from Chinese artillery bombardments that continued until the 1970s.

Mines

In June 2008, the Ministry of National Defense announced that it had identified 154 minefields covering approximately 3.4km² in Kinmen County and 154 minefields covering approximately 0.4km² in Matsu.[1] The army reported that it had cleared all of Matsu’s 154 mined areas in April 2011[2] and announced in June 2013 that the 154 known mined areas in Kinmen County had been cleared by the end of 2012.[3]

However, the army continued to investigate land outside the known minefields and found “drifted” and scattered mines at 53 locations on Kinmen and 57 locations on Matsu. In February 2012, the ministry said it had found five scattered mine hazards covering 54,317 m² in Wu-chiou, an area of Kinmen under the control of the Navy in addition to other areas of both Kinmen and Matsu.[4]

Other explosive remnants of war

Taiwan is affected to a lesser extent by UXO left from conflicts dating back to World War II or before—some of it too old to identify—as well as from more recent military training.[5] Items cleared in 2011 included mainly aircraft bombs, mortars, and hand grenades.[6] Contamination is not believed to include cluster munition remnants.

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

The Antipersonnel Landmines Regulations Act that came into effect in June 2006 required the Ministry of National Defense to disclose the location of all minefields and to complete clearance of all mines within seven years (by 2013).[7] Under the Regulations on Eradication of Antipersonnel Landmines in Minefield published by the Ministry of National Defense in January 2008, the ministry is the national mine action authority responsible for setting policy, approving programs and annual plans, and for monitoring the safety and environmental impact of demining. The army is responsible for implementing policy. It prepares mine action plans, arranges funding, and calls for tenders, as well as coordinating, implementing, and reviewing operations.[8]

The regulations required the Ministry of National Defense to give top demining priority to land needed for development, followed by regions that are not militarily sensitive, and lastly “military surveillance regions” where the ministry considered Taiwan needed alternative forms of defense.[9] However, officials reported in 2012 that all land required for development had already been cleared and that all remaining mined areas would be cleared by the end of that year.[10]

Land Release

After six years of organized demining, in 2012 Taiwan completed clearance of recorded minefields; however, the ADD continued to investigate and clear locations affected by scattered mines and UXO.[11]

Summary of clearance[12]

Mine clearance in 2012

The ADD completed clearance of known mined areas in Kinmen in 2012 after demining a total of 259,027m²and destroying 7,404 mines, of which 5,240 were antipersonnel mines.[13] Most of the land was released to the Kinmen County government and Kinmen National Park.[14]

Mined area clearance in 2012[15]

ADD, however, has continued to survey land outside the known mined areas it has cleared, following reports of the presence of scattered mines or mines that migrated beyond their perimeters. ADD conducted clearance in two phases. In the first phase, ADD investigated up to 30 meters beyond the perimeter of known mined hazards; in the second, it created a grid map and checked each grid square. ADD identified a total of 110 locations with mines in Kinmen (53 locations, apart from Wu-chiou) and Matsu (57 locations). It completed clearance of the Kinmen locations in May 2013 and the Matsu locations in June 2013.[16] The army expected to complete the process of checking Wu-chiou in 2013.[17]

Clearance of mined areas outside recorded minefields[18]

In 2012, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided US$200,000 to the American NGO “The Humpty Dumpty Institute” (HDI) in partnership with Project Renew to clear unexploded ordnance (UXO) and reduce poverty in Quang Tri province in Vietnam. The project benefits people with disabilities who earn income from growing and selling mushrooms. Profits earned from mushroom farming are used to support UXO clearance.[1]

Summary of contributions: 2010–2012[2]