The military refers to Penghu County as “offshore” and Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties as “outlying islands.” In the past, young men across Taiwan drew lots to determine where they would be stationed, with Kinmen and the Matsu archipelago considered undesirable assignments.
For Matsu, Jyuguang Township (莒光) includes two major islands, Dongjyu (東莒) and Sijyu (西莒), as well as smaller islets.
When I was doing education and promotional work across Taiwan in the Young Women’s Working Brigade, I visited Matsu four times, visiting Beigan (北竿), Nangan (南竿) and Dongyin (東引) townships, as well Dongjyu and Sijyu, along with other islands such as Liang (亮島) and Gaodeng (高登), with each tour lasting three months.
Due to the geography and environment, living conditions in Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu have long been inferior to those in Taiwan proper. Two decades ago, when I arrived in Matsu on a landing platform, I was appalled by the living conditions.
Not only was there limited water supply, the water was of poor quality. The entire women’s brigade showered together without hot water, while dead bugs were occasionally found in the water. At the time, I considered it a luxury to have water to shower at all.
As food sources were limited, we ate whatever the brigade ate, but as there were often military officers heading up education and promotional work there, the army would usually offer an extra dish, which would be something that is common in Taiwan proper, but difficult to come by on an outlying island lacking variety.
About six years ago, when I was assigned to the Army Command Headquarters, I again visited Matsu. This time, I found that the facilities and food had greatly improved due to advancements in technology, transportation and the efforts of top officials.
Minister of Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) was then head of the Army Command Headquarters. He has always regarded outlying islands as a top priority for provision and supply, which should be the same with all the former ministers, even though resources are still not up to par with those on Taiwan proper.
On Sunday a photograph posted on social media showed a message written on a beach, purportedly on Sijyu, saying that the soldiers there had to eat canned food and instant noodles because they had no fresh meat.
I asked a friend fulfilling his military service in Matsu about the incident. He said it was due to the breakdown of a commercial boat that usually delivers meat to the islet, and deliveries had also been affected by weather. Without other food sources, the army used canned pork as a substitute.
From the incident, we can see the efforts and hardship that soldiers stationed on outlying islands must deal with. It is also understandable how top officials might have created a misunderstanding among the public, and that the pressure that public censure has inflicted on the national army.
The soldiers with a complaint about the food situation should have taken it up with their superiors first.
I believe top officials and commanders in the army would address the problem upon receiving the complaint. In this way, we would have avoided a public misunderstanding, while maintaining troop morale, especially by preventing people from spreading articles with scandalous titles like “combat power down for national army.”
Chang Ling-ling is a retired colonel in the armed forces reserves. She is a resident of New Taipei City.
Translated by Rita Wang
The central bank and the US Department of the Treasury on Friday issued a joint statement that both sides agreed to avoid currency manipulation and the use of exchange rates to gain a competitive advantage, and would only intervene in foreign-exchange markets to combat excess volatility and disorderly movements. The central bank also agreed to disclose its foreign-exchange intervention amounts quarterly rather than every six months, starting from next month. It emphasized that the joint statement is unrelated to tariff negotiations between Taipei and Washington, and that the US never requested the appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar during the
Since leaving office last year, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been journeying across continents. Her ability to connect with international audiences and foster goodwill toward her country continues to enhance understanding of Taiwan. It is possible because she can now walk through doors in Europe that are closed to President William Lai (賴清德). Tsai last week gave a speech at the Berlin Freedom Conference, where, standing in front of civil society leaders, human rights advocates and political and business figures, she highlighted Taiwan’s indispensable global role and shared its experience as a model for democratic resilience against cognitive warfare and
The diplomatic dispute between China and Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments in the Japanese Diet continues to escalate. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong (傅聰) wrote that, “if Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression.” There was no indication that Fu was aware of the irony implicit in the complaint. Until this point, Beijing had limited its remonstrations to diplomatic summonses and weaponization of economic levers, such as banning Japanese seafood imports, discouraging Chinese from traveling to Japan or issuing
The diplomatic spat between China and Japan over comments Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made on Nov. 7 continues to worsen. Beijing is angry about Takaichi’s remarks that military force used against Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” necessitating the involvement of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. Rather than trying to reduce tensions, Beijing is looking to leverage the situation to its advantage in action and rhetoric. On Saturday last week, four armed China Coast Guard vessels sailed around the Japanese-controlled Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known to Japan as the Senkakus. On Friday, in what
RSS