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 landmines. In August 2007, Taiwan’s then-President Ma Ying-jeou signed a declaration that supported a complete ban on antipersonnel mines.

In 2006, the Legislative Yuan enacted the Antipersonnel Landmines Regulations Act. It prohibits production and trade of antipersonnel mines,[1] sets a deadline for clearance of existing minefields (which was achieved in June 2013), and provides for compensation for future victims.[2] However, the law permits possession of a residual stockpile of antipersonnel mines until they are expired and destroyed, and also allows for the use of the residual stockpile “when it is imperative during war.”[3] But the law does not allow for the replacement of expiring antipersonnel mines with new stocks, meaning that once the current stockpile expires it will not be replaced. In 2009, a research project commissioned by the Ministry of Justice also suggested the government create an internal law which fully implemented the obligations contained in the Mine Ban Treaty.[4]

In June 2013, an ICBL delegation and members of ICBL country campaigns in Japan and South Korea were invited to Taiwan for events celebrating the completion of mine clearance under the 2006 Antipersonnel Landmines Regulation Act. During a meeting between the ICBL delegation and then-President Ma Ying-jeou at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, the ICBL Executive Director encouraged Taiwan to fully incorporate the Mine Ban Treaty into domestic law.

As of August 2020, Taiwan possesses a stockpile of 521,957 antipersonnel landmines.[5] 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.”[6] However, the Vice-Minister also stated that since 2007 there has continually been a budgeted destruction of expiring mines. During the period 2017–2019, Taiwan destroyed 210,766 antipersonnel landmines.[7]

The Kinmen Defense Command has acknowledged that antipersonnel mines are stockpiled on the island. However, they noted that as these mines expire, they will be destroyed by a third party; and therefore, once all the mines expire, Taiwan will no longer have a stockpile. The use of the mines would require authorization of a government minister or the president.[8]