Source: Global Times [Global Times Comprehensive Report] After Tsai Ing-wen announced that Taiwan’s compulsory military service would be extended to one year, Taiwanese media further disclosed on the 29th that these servicemen will have “new tasks” in the future, that is, they wi

Source: Global Times

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] After Tsai Ing-wen announced that Taiwan’s compulsory military service would be extended to one year, Taiwanese media further disclosed on the 29th that these servicemen will have “new tasks” in the future, that is, they will be responsible for garrison tasks in combat zones, including defending the TSMC factory area.

On December 29, Taiwan's "Executive Yuan" approved the military service adjustment plan. Male draftees born after January 1, 2005 will resume active service in the standing army starting from January 1, 2024, for a period of one year. Starting from 2024, compulsory enlistment training will focus on actual combat, adding "intermediate and advanced expertise, new weapons and equipment and civil defense training, urban warfare, company and battalion combat coaching and combat planning exercises, Hanguang exercises, and civil security exercises" and other training.

Taiwan's "China Times" disclosed on the 29th that the Taiwan Army will establish four garrison brigades by the end of 2023. The 9,000 one-year service men recruited in the first year of 2024 will be the main force of the garrison brigades and will be responsible for garrison tasks in the combat zone, including Taiwan's important infrastructure such as oil and electricity, as well as the safety protection of TSMC power plants. Taiwan military officials said that relatively fragile infrastructure such as electricity or TSMC factories are important protection tasks for the garrison brigade. Important facilities located in remote areas will be responsible for the garrison brigade in the form of a task platoon. The report mentioned that in October this year, there were foreign reports claiming that if the mainland "attacks Taiwan by force", it would severely damage TSMC and cause huge losses to the world economy. U.S. Secretary of State Blinken threatened that TSMC cannot fall into the hands of the CCP. The U.S. government is already planning an emergency response plan for TSMC. One statement is that the United States will evacuate engineers from Taiwan and copy TSMC elsewhere; another statement is that "if Taiwan is occupied, the United States will adopt a scorched-earth strategy to destroy all TSMC facilities and prevent Beijing from obtaining advanced chip technology." "China Times" stated that in order to protect TSMC, the Taiwan military's "Han Kuang" exercise's computer military exercises and real-force drills have conducted "critical infrastructure protection drills" for many times. The Taiwan Army and military police special operations forces have also begun to practice key infrastructure protection, counter-raid and other subjects.

In response to Tsai Ing-wen's denial that there is pressure from the United States to extend military service, Huang Guangguo, emeritus professor of the Department of Psychology at National Taiwan University, wrote an article on the 29th that U.S. officials have frequently criticized Taiwan for insufficient combat readiness training, a defense budget that is too low, and a service period that is too short, making it incapable of fighting a war. Now that the Tsai administration has decided to extend the service period, it actually said that there was no pressure from the United States. "Isn't this lying with open eyes?" He directly criticized the Tsai administration as a "Mu foreign dog" and obedient to the United States. Media person Zhu Kaixiang said on the 29th that in fact, whether Taiwanese men serve as soldiers for four months or one year, they are cannon fodder. After all, if the People's Liberation Army really wants to "attack Taiwan", it will inevitably use all its elite soldiers. There is not much difference between compulsory soldiers serving for four months, one year or even two years. Retired Lieutenant General Wu Sihuai believes that the Tsai administration has reached a tacit agreement with the United States in private to cooperate with the United States and North Korea in preparing for an "asymmetric war". "Why should Taiwan be used as a pawn?"

"The Price of Wrong Policies", "China Times" commented on this title. Since taking office, the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have blindly used a tough "anti-China" attitude to obtain political interests on the island, causing cross-strait relations to slide into the abyss; in the Sino-US competition, they have completely turned to the United States and are obedient to the United States, which appears to support Taiwan but actually intentionally or unintentionally pushes Taiwan into the abyss. The result is that the Taiwan Strait has become "the most dangerous powder storehouse." Without cross-Strait dialogue, no amount of buying more weapons or extending the service period will be able to guarantee cross-Strait peace and Taiwan's security. (Zhang Ruo)