Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed draft amendments to exclude people under the age of 20 from civil defense teams.
The draft amendment to Article 15 of the All-out Defense Mobilization Readiness Act (全民防衛動員準備法) proposed by KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) aims to abolish the mobilization of school youth for all-out national defense. It was forwarded to the legislature’s committees for review on Friday.
Parents were concerned that students younger than the conscription age could be enlisted in the forces should there be cross-strait conflicts, Hsu said in her motion, citing a Ministry of Education survey on high-school students’ willingness to execute their duties on civil defense teams.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Although the ministry has said that the duties of high-school students would not involve military and policing units, parents and the public are still concerned about the issue, she said.
Revisions should be made to the act to “ensure young students would not be sent to war,” Hsu said.
Meanwhile, KMT legislators Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之), Jonathan Lin (林沛祥), Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) and Sean Liao (廖偉翔) jointly proposed amendments to Articles 5 and 6 of the Civil Defense Act (民防法) to prevent people below the age of 20 from taking part in civil defense teams of schools or other units.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of National Defense have said that duties of the youth would not involve military service affairs, they said in their motion.
Under the current All-out Defense Mobilization Readiness Act and the Civil Defense Act, adolescent students could be enlisted during wartime to go to the frontlines, but that would adversely affect their mental and physical health, and put their lives in danger, the KMT lawmakers said.
The country should be dedicated to ensuring the safety of young people and let the adults handle national emergencies, so people younger than 20 years old should not be included in civil defense teams, they said.
In response, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said that there are different disasters that require information exchange and medical aid, and war is just one of them.
While the armed forces are like sports players, students are like athletic trainees, medical service providers or intelligence collection agents, he said.
Trainees would not be asked to play the game, as each party has their own duty, Shen said, adding that amendments to exclude students’ participation in civil defense would deprive them of the right to learn and personal development.
DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said KMT lawmakers were demonizing civil defense by claiming that civil defense means sending civil forces to war.
Civil forces are not the equivalent of militia and they are not required to fight in war, she said, adding that the DPP caucus would table reconsideration of the motion proposed by Hsu.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin and CNA
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
RSS