Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen announced on December 27 that she would change Taiwan's current four-month compulsory service training system to one-year compulsory service, calling it an "extremely difficult decision."
As soon as the news came out, young people in Taiwan "fried the pot" one after another, leaving messages on the Internet saying, "Are you forced by the Americans?" "I will not fight for your 'Democratic Prohibition Party'!" Can the child die forever? Have you considered the parents of the child?" "A soldier is meant to go to the battlefield to fight, and if he dies in battle, who cares whether he has labor insurance or not."
Screenshot of Netizen Comments
Young people dissatisfied with extended compulsory service
Since 1949, the Taiwan military has revised the military service system many times.
The current military service system is as follows: draftees born before December 31, 1993, regardless of service or branch, will serve one to three years of compulsory military training; draftees born after January 1, 1994 must receive four Months of standing service military training.
On December 27, Tsai Ing-wen announced at a press conference that the compulsory service will be changed to one year in the future, starting from January 1, 2024, and recruiting draftees born after January 1, 2005; The salary of a draftee, taking a second-class soldier as an example, the salary of a conscript, including insurance and meals, is NT$26,307.
Tsai Ing-wen also introduced the direction of the adjustment of the force structure, including "volunteer service as the main combat force" and "standby garrison with compulsory service as the main force", etc., and claimed that "only by preparing for war can we avoid war, and only when we can fight can we stop war." If Taiwan is strong enough, it will not become a battlefield, and young people will not go to the battlefield."
However, young people in Taiwan do not seem to buy into Tsai Ing-wen's rhetoric.
Regarding the imminent extension of the current compulsory service period, many young people expressed that they could not accept it. They left messages on the Internet saying that they "do not want to fight for the DPP" and "Taiwan will not be well if the DPP does not fall"; some netizens also wrote, " I went in and didn’t do anything, sweeping the floor and weeding”; some people stood in the position of parents and expressed that they would “worry about their children”; some left comments criticizing that Tsai Ing-wen was “trapping Taiwan on the brink of war”, expressing that "Against the extension of military service," calling the move "a strategy designated by the United States."
Screenshot of Netizen Comments
Taiwan's "dilemma"
According to Taiwan media reports, the total number of troops in the Taiwan military is about 188,000, but it has not been able to meet the standard for a long time.
In recent years, the Taiwan military has continued to expand new units, but even if the military service period is extended, most of the manpower is still served by volunteers.
Compulsory service has entered the combat readiness force again. It seems that the "shortage problem" of the Taiwan military can be solved, but the answer is just the opposite-the problem of the Taiwan military's volunteer manpower will deteriorate to an unprecedented level.
Taiwanese media pointed out that young people in Taiwan who entered the Taiwan military for compulsory service are unable to take on highly complex and highly technical military services. They can only "grind foreign workers" in some irrelevant positions. For people, it is a waste of time, and even their studies may be disturbed.
Zhao Shaokang, a senior Taiwanese media person, criticized on social platforms that Taiwan has a declining birth rate. In the past year, there were 400,000 newborns, and now there are only 160,000. Being arrested for "counting steamed buns" will seriously affect Taiwan's overall competitiveness.
Serving as a soldier for a year has no productivity or combat effectiveness, and the quality and quantity of recruits are insufficient. This is the current predicament.
In addition, Taiwan's "United Daily News" published a quick commentary on December 27, pointing out that although Tsai Ing-wen denied that the United States was exerting pressure, people from all walks of life sensed that there was a strong American color behind the extension of the military service period.
The "rock-solid" relationship between Taiwan and the United States is undoubtedly the "highest guiding principle" of the DPP authorities. Not only did TSMC go to Arizona to invest in the establishment of a fab, but the United States also publicly urged Taiwan to switch to the "porcupine strategy" to show its full defense of the mainland. Military capability and will; it is an obvious fact that the DPP authorities announced the extension of military service for one year in line with "good intentions".
There are also comments that under the pressure of the United States, Taiwan's extension of the compulsory military service period has long been rumored, but Tsai Ing-wen, Su Zhenchang and others are making political calculations and looking for an appropriate time for them to make an official announcement.
In fact, after the DPP suffered a disastrous defeat in this year's "nine-in-one" election, the issue of extending the military service period has become a hot potato.
On the one hand, there are different voices from the "anti-Cai" forces, who are worried that "forced push" will further endanger the DPP's 2024 election; Do what you say.
The "United Daily News" article pointed out that the Lunar New Year is approaching, and the DPP authorities have the conditions to open the "miniature three links", but only opened a small hole for cross-strait exchanges; military service is like changing into a soldier, improving the state of cross-strait war preparations.
There is a fine line between war and peace. Tsai Ing-wen has shown a high degree of personal will, but it cannot guarantee Taiwan's future. When wars meet, no one wins.
(Author of WeChat Official Account of China News Agency: You Jin)