COMMENTARY: “The imminent threat of war was, and still is, woven into the background pattern of Taiwanese life,” writes Denise Lin.
, woven into the background pattern of Taiwanese life. When I was in elementary school, we had regular air raid drills in which teachers would usher us kids into the basement of the school gym. My classmates and I would hang out in the cool darkness for a few hours, playing card games or ping pong, with missile warning sirens blaring faintly above us.
When I was in middle school, I had “scouting class” once a week, which was meant to teach us wilderness survival skills so that we could flee into the mountains in the event of Chinese invasion. In high school, my male classmates had to make their college plans around Taiwan’s mandatory military service period.
To be honest, though, the idea that Taiwan could possibly defeat a determined Chinese attack all by itself is kind of ridiculous. My classmates and I used to joke that the Chinese wouldn’t even need guns to invade Taiwan — all they’d have to do is send a fraction of their population across the Taiwan Strait, and they could literally stand on every square centimeter of Taiwanese soil.
Over time, as China’s repeated and incessant saber-rattling has faded to routine background noise, the Taiwanese government has been gradually phasing out the mandatory conscription period. My dad did a two-year enlistment in his time, which decreased to just over one year in my high school days. Now, in 2022, my youngest male cousins are only serving for four months.
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