Robert Tsao (曹興誠), the founder of United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), has been making waves with his “all-out defense” proposal.
Critics have said that if civilians are trained to use firearms to defend against a potential Chinese invasion — to the extent that people have guns in their homes as the Swiss do — it might lead to the proliferation and misuse of guns.
Such concerns are redundant and are the unfortunate legacy of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) authoritarian rule, which left Taiwan with a severe case of hoplophobia — an irrational fear of guns.
There is no widespread misuse of guns in Switzerland, despite the stunningly high rate of gun ownership there.
Rifles used by the military are not suitable to engage in criminal activities. In Taiwan, such violence has revolved around handguns. The unsolved 1996 murder of Taoyuan county commissioner Liu Pang-yu (劉邦友) and seven others is an example. The murderer had used handguns and killed the people execution-style, meaning that the result would have been the same if guns were not available, just that the weapon would have been a knife.
The most infamous case of military-grade arms ownership was gangster Chang Hsi-ming (張錫銘) and his heavily armed gang. Chang was arrested after a gunbattle with police in 2005. Despite Chang’s rifles and submachine guns — which were deployed in several shoot-outs with police — they did not cause a lot of casualties.
On Sept. 4, there was a mass stabbing in Saskatchewan, Canada, in which 10 people died and 18 were injured.
In 2014, Cheng Chieh (鄭捷) killed four people and injured 22 in a stabbing frenzy on a Taipei MRT train with a Swiss pocket knife.
Prohibiting knives is obviously unworkable, and regardless, crimes are committed by people determined to do so. The lack of a particular form of weapon will not stop them.
Most ordinary Taiwanese have an aversion to guns, which probably stems from the KMT’s authoritarian regime. Fearing that people might rise up against it, the party instilled a fear of firearms. Even realistic-looking toy guns were once on the brink of being banned. With most people fearing guns, Taiwan has unconsciously undermined its national self-defense.
People might think that they are safe with strict gun controls, but they do not realize that black-market guns are in wide circulation, leading to criminals like Chang having weapons more powerful than even the police.
If critics of Tsao’s ideas have doubts about public security, they should focus on clamping down on crime and black-market guns instead of worrying that such policies might go astray.
Moreover, an all-out defense policy can be realized step by step instead of adopting the Switzerland model outright and immediately allowing military reservists to keep guns at home.
The first stage could be to enable people to get used to shooting at ranges. If stricter caution is deemed necessary, guns could be supervised by the military and given to people only at practice sessions. Such details could be ironed out to develop a workable and safe policy.
Having supervised many shooting practice sessions for students and conscripts, the military is familiar with weapons management and regulations.
Taiwan must be able to defend itself. To ensure its survival and to keep enemies at bay, people need basic military knowledge, not an ingrained fear of guns.
The first step toward safeguarding Taiwan is to repel the ghost of hoplophobia.
Tommy Lin is director of Wu Fu Eye Clinic and president of the Formosa Republican Association.
Translated by Rita Wang
When former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) first took office in 2016, she set ambitious goals for remaking the energy mix in Taiwan. At the core of this effort was a significant expansion of the percentage of renewable energy generated to keep pace with growing domestic and global demands to reduce emissions. This effort met with broad bipartisan support as all three major parties placed expanding renewable energy at the center of their energy platforms. However, over the past several years partisanship has become a major headwind in realizing a set of energy goals that all three parties profess to want. Tsai
An elderly mother and her daughter were found dead in Kaohsiung after having not been seen for several days, discovered only when a foul odor began to spread and drew neighbors’ attention. There have been many similar cases, but it is particularly troubling that some of the victims were excluded from the social welfare safety net because they did not meet eligibility criteria. According to media reports, the middle-aged daughter had sought help from the local borough warden. Although the warden did step in, many services were unavailable without out-of-pocket payments due to issues with eligibility, leaving the warden’s hands
There is a modern roadway stretching from central Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa, to the partially recognized state’s Egal International Airport. Emblazoned on a gold plaque marking the road’s inauguration in July last year, just below the flags of Somaliland and the Republic of China (ROC), is the road’s official name: “Taiwan Avenue.” The first phase of construction of the upgraded road, with new sidewalks and a modern drainage system to reduce flooding, was 70 percent funded by Taipei, which contributed US$1.85 million. That is a relatively modest sum for the effect on international perception, and
At the end of last year, a diplomatic development with consequences reaching well beyond the regional level emerged. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state, paving the way for political, economic and strategic cooperation with the African nation. The diplomatic breakthrough yields, above all, substantial and tangible benefits for the two countries, enhancing Somaliland’s international posture, with a state prepared to champion its bid for broader legitimacy. With Israel’s support, Somaliland might also benefit from the expertise of Israeli companies in fields such as mineral exploration and water management, as underscored by Israeli Minister of
RSS