Source: Overseas Network
Taiwan’s military capabilities have always been controversial on the island. The picture shows Taiwanese soldiers practicing shooting under parasols. Picture from Global Network
The Democratic Progressive Party authorities recently announced that they would extend compulsory military service in Taiwan from four months to one year, effective on New Year's Day in 2024. This move has been strongly criticized by public opinion on the island. People are asking angrily: Where do the Democratic Progressive Party authorities, who are manipulating "resistance to China and safeguard Taiwan" and follow the lead of the United States, want to take Taiwan?
Young people on the island are "exploiting"
Regarding the DPP authorities' announcement to extend military service, major media on the island conducted street polls to ask the public, especially young people, for their opinions. When interviewed on the streets, many young people expressed their "unwillingness to fight for the Democratic Progressive Party." "The question is not how long to serve, but why the military service has to be extended. Who caused it? Everyone knows the answer." "In order to put the United States first, Taiwanese people pay protection fees every year, eat pigs, and donate TSMC. As a result, the United States is not enough..." Young people on the island on the
network are also "wailing". According to United News Network , many high school students are already considering "avoidance plans", such as massive weight gain, and some even plan to lie about being infected with AIDS in order to avoid military service. The tension of "Vote for the Democratic Progressive Party, young people go to war" has spread on the Internet, and this ironic slogan has become a super popular comment among Taiwanese netizens in the past few days. Military training is arduous, subsidies are small, and it hinders life planning. Most young people in Taiwan are unwilling to extend their military service, let alone go to the battlefield. Previous polls on the island on the question "if cross-strait war breaks out, are you willing to go to the battlefield?" showed that as many as 65.2% of the people were unwilling to go to the battlefield, and as many as 70% of the people aged 20 to 29 were unwilling to go to the battlefield.
Seeing the rebound in public opinion, the DPP authorities have tried their best to win the support of young people. Not only does it propose a significant increase in the salary of service members, the monthly salary of a private soldier will be adjusted from NT$6,510 to NT$20,320 at a time, and the service period will be included in the labor insurance years. It is also proposed that the camp can be divided into years and installments, taking into account both study and service period. What does it mean? That is to say, service members serve as soldiers for two months every summer vacation and one month during winter vacation. In this way, after four years of college, they can just "mortgage" to complete one year of military service. Wu Sihuai, a retired lieutenant general of the Taiwan Army and a "legislator" of the Kuomintang , bluntly said that this ridiculous approach "may not pass the standard just for physical training." The DPP authorities just hope to appease and please young people. "It is all electoral considerations and political considerations, not It is really for the benefit of young people, not really for Taiwan.”
The DPP is willing to serve as a pawn for the United States.
Regarding the extension of military service, Tsai Ing-wen claimed that this was an “extremely difficult decision.” Obviously, this move will offend many young voters and be detrimental to the DPP's 2024 election. However, Taiwan's "China Times" published an article stating that "the extension of the service period is a request of the United States" and "it is impossible for the Tsai administration to disobey the United States." According to the United States' vision, this is to arm Taiwan into a "porcupine" and "hedgehog" and strengthen its "deterrence ability" against the mainland. The knowledgeable people on the island know very well, "Can the military service be extended for one year to fight against the mainland? The Taiwanese people cannot die in vain because of the power struggle of politicians."
In the past two years, "pressure from the United States" has frequently hit the Democratic Progressive Party authorities. It has become commonplace for heavyweight American think tanks and American official media to criticize Taiwan's military service system. After the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February this year, the United States immediately sent people to visit Taiwan. Mullen, the former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff who led the team at the time, publicly demanded that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities must demonstrate "self-defense determination" and directly pointed out that "Taiwan's current service time of four months is too short." Now that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities announced the extension of military service, the American Institute in Taiwan immediately jumped out and posted a message on Facebook saying, "Welcome Taiwan's recent announcement on conscription reform," and also claimed that this move "demonstrates Taiwan's commitment to self-defense."
Wu Sihuai believes that these facts are the result of "pressure from the United States."He criticized the Democratic Progressive Party authorities for being willing to be pawns in the U.S. strategy of "using Taiwan to contain China" and even directly treating young people as victims. "Why should Taiwan be used as a pawn? It is Taiwanese who will die and Taiwan will be injured. If a war breaks out in Taiwan, it will be in ruins within three months. How many years will it take to rebuild?"
Kuomintang "legislator" Chen Yuzhen also criticized the extension of military service because the DPP authorities were forced to follow the lead due to pressure from the United States. She said that it was the DPP authorities that brought the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to the current dangerous situation of war. Now the DPP continues to "choose the wrong path and bet solely on the side of the United States. Is this to turn Taiwan into a pawn of a 'specific country'?"
Using force to seek "independence" is a dead end.
Public opinion on the island points out that the DPP authorities ignore the interests and life and death of the people and blindly satisfy the United States' coercion and demands. On the surface, they say they want to protect the Taiwanese people, but in fact they are pushing them into the flames of war. Wantlessly escalating military confrontation will only further aggravate tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and attempting to collude with external forces to "seek independence through force" will ultimately lead to a dead end.
Taiwan Sun Wen School President Zhang Yazhong commented that once the "military service extension" is implemented, it will only be the beginning. Taiwan will definitely have to pay more to continue to purchase more weapons, allowing Taiwan to become the arsenal of the United States, and the United States will surely make profits without losing money. He said that Taiwan's future cannot be "handed over to the United States." Only by proactively proposing a peace plan, conducting political dialogue, and creating peace for both sides of the Taiwan Strait can security across the Taiwan Strait be ensured.
Looking back from 2008 to 2016, cross-strait relations developed peacefully. Taiwan accordingly changed its recruitment policy to a recruitment system . Military servicemen only had to serve 4 months of military training service, and the people were able to enjoy the peace dividends. "In the past eight years when the Kuomintang was in power, how did the Taiwan Strait reach such a tense situation full of gunpowder?" Hong Xiuzhu, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang , condemned. Extending the service period is a waste of money and people, which is tantamount to discarding the good and chasing the last. The DPP authorities should not use wrong policies and take the wrong path, causing the people on the island to pay an extra high price. Responsible rulers should be determined to avoid the occurrence of war. They should never use slogans of "anti-China and Taiwan" to incite hatred and prompt the outbreak of war, and then let the people "hold brooms" on the battlefield.
Liu Xingren, associate professor at the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan, said that the current cross-strait tensions and the extension of military service for one year will bring huge physical and mental pressure to young people and parents in Taiwan. Taiwan is not a "sub-colony" of the United States, and Tsai Ing-wen should not become an accomplice of foreign anti-China forces. The Taiwanese people need to wake up and save themselves, fight against the wrong decisions of the Democratic Progressive Party, and use the power of public opinion to get Taiwan back on track. (Lei Lei)
Overseas Network copyrighted works may not be reproduced without authorization.
