Hastily Organizing 400,000-Man Militia Will Only End in Tragedy
China Times Commentary, September 28, 2024
Recently, President Lai Ching-te announced his ambitious plan for 400,000 militias, which evokes disbelief and frustration.
First, the regular military is already understaffed and lacks adequate training. Instead of focusing on increasing recruitment and retaining professional soldiers, the plan shifts to untrained reserve militias, which is counterproductive. It’s like trying to fill in a baseball team by adding benchwarmers rather than improving the training of the players.
Second, if the goal is to organize a 400,000-man militia, why not first reform the current conscription system? For instance, replacing alternative service with a mandatory two-year military service would allow for proper training in modern weaponry and drones, which is a more legitimate approach than relying on police or volunteers to serve as militias.
Furthermore, if war breaks out, with alarms blaring and chaos everywhere, police and firefighters will be too busy saving lives to engage in urban combat.
Just look at war-torn Ukraine or Lebanon. During enemy airstrikes, amid rubble and raging fires, emergency responders are overwhelmed. Can we imagine these personnel being drafted for urban warfare, leaving no one to handle rescue operations or recover bodies? The result would be a nightmarish scene.
Most absurdly, this 400,000-strong militia plan would be overseen by the leader of a group lacking military expertise. Can their staunch pro-independence stance truly ensure that these militias won’t surrender or keep the public safe? Do military commanders at various levels have authority over the militias? If not, who will lead this disorganized group? Is it “General” Puma Shen, “General” Robert Tsao, or the inexperienced Minister of the Interior? It’s not hard to imagine that, in such chaos, the entire defense system, reserve forces, the partisan Black Bear Brigade, and the unstructured militia of 400,000 will be a complete mess. With highways and city streets clogged with vehicles, and traffic police turned into militia members, who will manage traffic flow? Just look at Lebanon—panicking citizens stuck in cars on highways become trapped, with nowhere to escape.
To appease the United States, President Lai feels compelled to demonstrate Taiwan's capability for self-defense, promoting the idea of total mobilization. However, hastily presenting this nonsensical plan for a 400,000-strong militia, and personally recording a message in Taiwanese urging citizens to prepare emergency supplies, only serves to amuse military experts while instilling unwarranted fear among the public, making them believe war is imminent.
According to the Lai administration, "preparation for war is the only way to prevent war," completely disregarding the possibility of peaceful coexistence across the Strait. Their relentless push for independence, regardless of the consequences, raises the question: can this extreme mentality truly represent the majority will of Taiwan's 23 million people? Taiwan's future should be determined by all citizens, not dictated by a separatist party that favors conflict over cooperation!
From: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20240928002627-262110?chdtv