Although the abuse has decreased substantially from my days (more than 10 years ago), most Taiwanese men still would not consider military service a "walk in the park."
Moreover, there's no stigma associated with evading/dodging draft in Taiwan. Many people have the attitude that you serve in the military because you are too dumb to find a way out. This attitude is especially rampant in the medical community. In contrast, South Korean men who are exempted from the military, for good or bad reasons, are often stigmatized as "cowards" and "wimps." The most notable example is Chan-Ho Park, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher. He avoided the draft in South Korea by playing professional baseball in the US. Yet, despite being a national hero, there was an outcry in Korea for this special privilege. In the end, there was a compromise: help South Korea win the baseball title in the Asian Games (which he did), or else serve in the military!
Finally, most Taiwanese people feel that the military draft system is inherently unfair. Those who have the money, power or influence often get away with evading it. The best example is probably the number of sons of Taiwanese politicians who avoid military service. In the last presidential election, there were three pairs of major candidates (Lien/Siew, Soong/Chang and Chen/Lu). We know that the sons of Lien, Soong, and Chang all did not serve in the military. No system in the world is completely fair and just -- after all, African-Americans constituted 30 percent of the US combat troops in the Vietnam War but accounted for only 13 percent of the total US population -- but we should at least "strive" for some equality.
What are the solutions? I don't know. But with the economic downturn, it appears that more men and women are attending military academy and choosing to stay in the military after their compulsory service. Perhaps the economic recession is a blessing to our arm forces.
Kenny Liu, MD
Hualien
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