Explained: What is ‘porcupine doctrine’ and how can Taiwan deter potential Chinese invasion?

On early Tuesday, Taiwan conducted its own live-fire drills to better prepare itself against a potential Chinese invasion.

The Taiwan Strait witnessed a tense last week after an angered China launched military exercise encircling the island following the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It was the most high-level visit from the US to Taiwan in 25 years. This incensed China as it saw the visit as a violation of the “One China Policy”.

Though the Chinese military has ended their four-day military drills, Beijing on Tuesday vowed to conduct more joint drills focusing on anti-submarine and sea assault operations in Korean Peninsula and Taiwan Strait.

As China upped the ante by announcing more live military exercises, Taiwan also expressed battle-readiness, saying that it was “preparing for war without seeking war”.

Though it is well established that China is superior to Taiwan in terms of military strength, there have been questions raised on Taipei’s possible strategy in case Beijing attempts to occupy it by force.

Among the most potent tactic come up by Taiwan is an asymmetrical warfare method known as the “porcupine strategy (doctrine),” which aims to make the invasion very difficult and costly for the enemy.

According to US defence official David F Helvey, the strategy has helped Ukraine resist the Russian invasion, reports The New York Times.

This strategy focuses on solidifying a state’s defences to exploit the enemy’s weaknesses rather than taking on its strengths.

It was first propounded by US Naval War College research professor William S Murray in 2008.

While writing for the Naval War College Review, he explained that it is about building defences to ensure that Taiwan “could be attacked and damaged but not defeated, at least without unacceptably high costs and risks”.

The porcupine approach has two defensive layers.

While the outer surveillance layer would work to prevent a surprise attack, the second one would make it difficult for China to land its troops on the island in the face of a guerrilla campaign at sea using “agile, missile-armed small ships, supported by helicopters and missile launchers”.

Taiwan adopted the doctrine in 2017 when the then-chief of the Taiwanese military forces, Lee Hsi-Ming, referred to it as the "Overall Defence Concept" (ODC).

Under this strategy, Taiwan has stacked up large inventories of anti-air, anti-tank, and anti-ship weapons and ammunition. That includes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and low-cost munitions like mobile coastal defence cruise missiles (CDCMs), which have the capacity to destroy China’s expensive naval vessels and naval equipment.

It has also prepared its cities for guerrilla warfare in case the Chinese People's Liberation Army succeeds in landing in Taiwan. In fact, buildings in Taipei can be turned into barracks.

Taipei also has aircraft and anti-ballistic defence systems in its arsenal which can intercept ballistic rockets and inflict primary damage on invading powers.