College students are calling for conscription reform in light of the war in Ukraine, although views diverge on length of service.
Observing the Russian invasion of Ukraine has underlined the need for Taiwan to review its compulsory military service system, which requires men born after Jan. 1, 1994, to serve for four months, National Taiwan University student council president Chang Cheng-yu (張承宇) said yesterday.
However, service length is not as key as providing all citizens with general defense training, he said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Everyone should be trained in basic response measures such as first aid, transportation and coordination, as well as up-to-date combat technologies and tactics, Chang added.
Former National Students’ Union of Taiwan (NSUT) president Chen Ku-hsiung (陳估熊) supports conscription, but said that four months is not long enough.
Conscripts spend all day “pulling weeds” and would find it difficult to serve as a reserve combat force, Chen said.
Yeh Pei-yan (葉裴晏), who serves on the union’s board, said that it is difficult to become familiar with military equipment in four months.
Others such as National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU) student council president Tsai Fan-wei (蔡凡葦) do not agree that lengthening service is the answer.
Military service severely affects the life plans of young conscripts, Tsai said, adding that whatever skills are learned during service could be taught another way.
On the other hand, National Taipei University student union president Chang Shao-lun (張紹倫) said that four months is long enough to train good soldiers.
Shih Hsin University student Peng Cheng (彭宬) raised the example of Switzerland, which also requires four months of military service.
“If you are not well trained, not even 10 years would be long enough to protect your country,” Peng said.
NSUT president Huang Ting-wei (黃亭偉) dismissed the focus on length in favor of quality.
Military service as it stands emphasizes traditional physical conditioning with relatively little combat training, he said.
A comprehensive overhaul is needed, “or else sweeping the ground for a year is the same as for four months,” he said. “Either way it would not help with resisting foreign enemies.”
Female students also weighed in, with NKNU student Liu Ting-yan (劉庭妍) saying that gender discrimination discourages women from military activity.
As an example, she cited a high school in central Taiwan that canceled a target shooting course on the grounds that “female students are easily frightened.”
As for changes to service content, former National Tsinghua University Student Association election committee chairman Jheng Yu-jhih (鄭宇智) advocated for more diversified and substantive roles in areas such as information and technological warfare.
Former NSUT president Chen suggested other essential skills, such as those related to logistics and evacuations.
Aside from combat training, some students also emphasized the importance of understanding what constitutes the nation’s forces and who they are protecting.
University of Taipei student council member Huang Ting-wei (黃廷瑋) said that military service does not necessarily need to be physical, as technology is also core to the nation’s defense.
To Chao Wen-chih (趙文志), a professor at the Institute of Strategic and International Affairs at National Chung Cheng University, the greatest problem with conscription is that four months is too short to build the strength required for real combat.
In such a short time frame, it is difficult to meet the necessary level of familiarity with weapons and combat skills, not to mention prepare psychologically for battle, he said.
Chao said that service should last at least one year to build this familiarity, as well as teamwork and other cooperative skills.
Soong Hseik-wen (宋學文), an adjunct professor at the institute, suggested that the Ministry of National Defense conduct a professional assessment to determine service length based on future combat needs.
Such an assessment should include public input, he said, adding that young people should be allowed to combine their service with related professional pursuits, such as scientific research.
According to Fan Shih-ping (范世平), a professor in National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of East Asian Studies, four months is not enough and units are lax in training because of a fear of accidents.
He suggested that the military incorporate a “civil defense system” with peacetime militias spread across the country.
These militias could cooperate with survival game organizers or schools to reach anyone interested in military training and effectively create a national reserve force, he said.
Indonesia has sent hundreds of riot police to a tiny island after protests broke out against a China-backed project that would displace thousands of residents. About 1,000 people protested in Batam City on Monday over a plan to develop Rempang island into a Chinese-funded economic zone, including the construction of a multibillion-dollar glass factory, that would displace about 7,500 people. Some protesters clashed with security forces outside a government agency, wielding machetes, Molotov cocktails and stones, police said, adding that dozens were arrested. Beijing has poured money into infrastructure and resource projects in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and its investments have previously caused
‘HARASSMENT’: A record 103 Chinese warplanes were detected in 24 hours, posing severe challenges to security in the Taiwan Strait and the region, the ministry said Taiwan yesterday told China to stop its “destructive unilateral actions” after more than 100 Chinese warplanes and nine navy ships were detected in areas around the nation. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) described the number of warplanes detected in 24 hours as a “recent high,” while Beijing has so far refrained from issuing any official comment on the sorties. “Between the morning of September 17th to 18th, the Ministry of National Defense had detected a total of 103 Chinese aircraft, which was a recent high and has posed severe challenges to the security across the Taiwan Strait and in the region,”
China would be making “a grave strategic mistake” if it tried to attack Taiwan, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley said in an interview with CNN that aired on Sunday. Asked by host Fareed Zakaria whether the US could repel a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, Milley said: “It is entirely possible.” Milley reiterated that the US still maintains the Taiwan Relations Act, and that it wants “a peaceful outcome between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China, and whatever that is between those two peoples.” “Militarily, I think China would make a grave strategic mistake if they attempted to
‘CRITICAL TRADE PARTNER’: The proposal had momentum due to a bipartisan consensus on boosting the economic partnership with Taiwan, a US senator said The US Senate Committee on Finance on Thursday passed the US-Taiwan Expedited Double Tax Relief Act, with US officials saying that it would ease pressure on investors and boost the partnership between Taipei and Washington, although Taiwan needs to enact reciprocal legislation for it to take effect. The bill — which was developed by US senators Ron Wyden, the committee’s chairman, and ranking member Mike Crapo, along with US representatives Jason Smith, chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, and ranking member Richard Neal — was passed in a 27-0 vote. The proposal had momentum because of