Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month entered its second year. Far exceeding the expectations of Russian President Vladimir Putin and outside analysts, Ukraine has put up a strong fight. Although its resilience has been bolstered by the financial and military support of NATO countries, its greatest strength has been the wholesale mobilization of citizens from all corners of society to ward off the invasion.
For many Taiwanese, the war in Ukraine has highlighted the need for citizens to be prepared for a potential invasion by a much bigger authoritarian regime, and prompted non-governmental organizations to step up civil defense training programs.
Among the most prominent of those groups is the Kuma Academy.
Photo: CNA
The academy was established in late 2021 by a group of volunteers led by Puma Shen (沈伯洋), an assistant criminology professor at National Taipei University, and Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝), deputy secretary-general of the pro-independence Taiwan National Security Association.
Since its founding, the academy has offered courses taught by professional instructors throughout Taiwan, seeking to promote people’s awareness and basic skills needed for civil defense, disaster prevention, medical rescue and self-defense.
The courses also cover topics such as cognitive warfare, modern warfare, and basic rescue and evacuation practices.
Asked if Ukraine’s resistance has helped promote civil defense awareness among Taiwanese, Shen said it had a positive effect, but only for the first two to three months of the war.
“People tend to have short memories,” Shen said.
Perhaps a more important factor has been the support of United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠), who has become a key opinion leader for voters with higher education backgrounds, Shen added.
Tsao advocated for Taiwan’s unification with China while serving as UMC chairman in the early 2000s, but especially after 2019, he has become a vocal critic of Beijing.
Shen said Tsao has convinced many Taiwanese of the threat China poses and the need to be better prepared for an attack.
Tsao has also funded many defense-related efforts.
In August last year, he pledged to donate NT$1 billion (US$32.42 million) to train 3.3 million civilians dubbed the “Kuma Warriors” in support of Taiwan’s defense efforts.
An official at another civil defense group, the Taiwan Militia Association, said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine did not change the association’s course, because it has believed since its founding in 2021 that “a war with China will definitely happen. It’s just a matter of time.”
However, the war in Ukraine served as an example to defense course participants of what could happen in Taiwan following a Chinese invasion, highlighting the need to be prepared, association secretary-general Tan Le-i (陳麗伊) said.
Some participants in Kuma Academy courses said that the Russian invasion played a key role in their decision to increase their defense skills.
A college senior surnamed Chen (陳) said the war in Ukraine was key to her thinking about defense, adding that she is concerned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could happen.
Chen said Taiwanese women often have less of an understanding of defense issues because they are not required to undergo mandatory military service, which is problematic because “war knows no boundaries related to age or gender.”
Despite the good intentions of civil defense programs, some have cast doubt about their effectiveness.
Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party and its likely candidate in next year’s presidential election, has said the efforts are similar to those of participants of the Boxer Rebellion in China at the turn of the 20th century, although he later backtracked on his comments.
The Boxer Rebellion was a peasant-initiated uprising that attempted to drive all foreigners from China. Lore has it that many “boxers” are said to have believed that they could render their bodies “impervious to bullets” by physical exercise.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), a retired lieutenant general and former army deputy commander, said he has received complaints from retired military personnel related to the civil defense programs and accused the Democratic Progressive Party of a lack of confidence in the country’s armed forces.
Shen said that contrary to some misconceptions, the training his academy offers is “not to train a militia or take over the job from the government in terms of civil defense.”
“Our goal is to educate the people so they can be better prepared during wartime or in case of an emergency. We are not competing with the central government in terms of chains of command or anything,” he said.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he backs the groups efforts.
However, he also said that laws restricting the use of weapons should be more flexible so that privately run shooting ranges can provide training supervised by the military to civilians.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), an associate research fellow at the KMT-linked National Policy Foundation, said he has no opinion on the groups providing training to citizens as long as they do not contravene any laws.
If the government is serious about civil defense training, the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of the Interior should provide the programs themselves under unified guidelines, he said.
Chieh said he opposes the idea that the government should work with private-sector organizations to provide shooting training, citing security reasons.
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