Qiu Chenyuan (right), general secretary of the People's Party of the Legislative Yuan (right), and Zhang Qilu (left), secretary-general, held a press conference today, criticizing the government's inconsistent military service policy and lack of determination to defend the country.

(Photo provided by Qiu Chenyuan's office)

[Reporter Xie Junlin/Taipei Report] Qiu Chenyuan, general secretary of the People's Party of the Legislative Yuan, and Zhang Qilu, secretary general, held a press conference today (22nd) to criticize the government's inconsistent military service policy and lack of determination to defend the country, and put forward four demands. Including asking President Tsai Ing-wen and Defense Minister Qiu Guozheng to immediately announce the extension of military service; the Ministry of National Defense to eliminate old equipment as soon as possible; to discuss the restoration of the military trial law; and to adjust training methods and include modern warfare training.

Taiwan's military service system was shortened to one year in 2009. In 2018, compulsory service entered history and was converted to four months of military training.

As to whether the service period should be extended, Qiu Chenyuan said that President Tsai and Minister Qiu have different opinions. The presidential palace and the Ministry of National Defense are fundamentally political considerations. They are afraid of losing young votes, and they are fighting to extend the military service for match-fixing.

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"It is easy to disarm, but difficult to expand!" Qiu Chenyuan said that the national army has always had difficulty recruiting soldiers, and there is a shortage of non-commissioned officers at the grassroots level. They may face the dilemma of compulsory service but no training.

After returning to the one-year compulsory service, it is roughly estimated that about 3,000 grassroots cadres will be invested. Before the Ministry of National Defense can improve and face up to the dire situation of recruiting soldiers, after adding 11 new training brigades, it is necessary to invest enough manpower for training as soon as possible. Without affecting daily combat readiness, I'm afraid it will be quite difficult.

Qiu Chenyuan pointed out that modern warfare is high-intensity and fast-paced. The previous human sea tactics are no longer applicable, but the national army still uses the training methods of World War II, which cannot effectively deal with the current high-tech and modern warfare. The Ministry of National Defense should consider joining Urban and urban warfare training, so that officers and soldiers are familiar with the combat mode.

The problem of declining birth rate in Taiwan is becoming more and more serious. Every soldier should be trained as an elite.

Zhang Qilu said that in recent years, the national defense situation and cross-strait relations have become more severe as the Democratic Progressive Party has manipulated the anti-China sentiment to protect Taiwan.

Facing the threat of China, Taiwan’s national defense forces, the length of training periods, the number of days of teaching, and the ratio of military strength to population are significantly lower than those of countries that have doubts about the enemy’s situation.

The Ministry of National Defense and the government should establish a comprehensive defense plan and communicate it to the people as soon as possible.

Zhang Qilu said that the most important thing in national defense is to establish "all defense awareness" in addition to the reform of the retirement period, but the government has not yet fully informed the people of the plan, and the Ministry of National Defense has announced that the volunteers will conduct comprehensive "combat-oriented" training, which is even more important. It makes the people of the country incredible, isn't the previous training for actual combat?

Just for acting?

In the end, Qiu Chenyuan put forward four demands to the Ministry of National Defense: Please President Cai and Minister Qiu immediately announce the extension of military service so that men of appropriate age can properly plan their careers; ask the Ministry of National Defense to re-examine the needs of the camps, manpower and equipment, and send them to the military as quickly as possible. Eliminate the old equipment of the century to improve the morale of the national army officers and soldiers; ask the Ministry of National Defense to discuss the restoration of the military trial law, rectify the lax military discipline, and revive the image of the national army; adjust the training methods, eliminate outdated and outdated training, and join modern warfare training , and adjust the physical training items to achieve the purpose of improving the combat effectiveness of professional troops.