Two national defense topics have been especially hot in this new year. One is that defense of the remote Pratas and Spratley Islands will be transferred to the Coast Guard Command. The second is the subject of missile defense. Both Kuomintang presidential candidate Lien Chan and Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian have commented on the subject.
千禧年在台灣最發燒的兩項軍事議題，莫過於東、西沙島將改由海岸巡防總署駐守，及國民黨總統候選人連戰與民進黨總統候選人陳水扁所提出的積極防禦飛彈構想。