Women rushed to Taiwan for shooting courses when Russia invaded Ukraine. The duration of military service is being extended and the extension of duty to women is being discussed in Taiwan. Hu Chia-Wein, who learns shooting, says he is ready for anything in the war.
Beijing
Beginner’s course the director sets Hu Chia-Wein unfamiliar, long arms slightly lower. Hu then fires many shots with an air pistol. He hits the board if not well, then not very badly.
“My problem is I can’t shoot at the right place,” Hu jokes on the phone on the screen for a remote interview connection in Taiwan.
Really, a new hobby is a very serious matter, grave at worst.
Hu is learning to shoot because he was terrified of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. European Ukraine is geographically very far from East Asian Taiwan, but mentally close.
Half of the ranks of beginners are women.
36 years old industrial designer Hu wants to be ready if China invades Taiwan.
The authoritarian China, led by the Communist Party, believes that the island of Taiwan is part of China, even though in practice democratic Taiwan is independent.
Taiwan has not officially declared independence. It would have been a direct call to war for China, which has announced that Taiwan will eventually be “returned” to China, albeit by force.
The roots of the situation date back to the time of the Chinese Civil War in the late 1940s, when the losing party fled to Taiwan.
The world has been questioned, especially in recent years, whether China is attacking Taiwan. The Taiwanese have taken things in stride: China has sent a lot of its military planes to Taiwan’s air defense detection zone, but the Taiwanese have been accustomed to defying China for decades.
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Hu was not particularly concerned about China’s actions before the war in Ukraine.
“The dispute between China and Taiwan seemed distant, but then the Russian invasion of Ukraine came as a surprise. It woke me up. Here, too, anything can suddenly happen here, ”Hu says.
“(President of Russia Vladimir) Putin and (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping are similar. Their actions are difficult to predict. They both tend to bluff. ”
China has not condemned the Russian invasion, on the contrary, it has understood Russia’s concerns and claims.
Of course, there are no signs of parity between the situations in Ukraine and Taiwan, as there are many differences, but many Taiwanese find enough intimidating points.
Both have a big, authoritarian neighbor who feels they belong to a smaller country next door. Both authoritarian countries accuse their neighbors of supporting them and interfering in the territory experienced by the great power.
Read more: China is nervous about “Asia’s NATO,” and therefore dislikes NATO’s expansion in Europe
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“Before, this was a hobby, now people are getting serious.”
Hu stares at the side of her husband’s shooting position and turns his air pistol slightly. In addition to her husband, Hu attracted a friend to join the course. The lure was reportedly easy.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, there have been two to three times as many people attending the courses of the Taipai shooting club as before, says the founder of the club called Revontulet. Max Chiang.
“Before, this was a hobby, now people are getting serious.”
Every month, 300-400 people take part in the club’s activities.
Max Chiang was not surprised when the Russian invasion of Ukraine was reflected in an increase in gunfire in Taiwan, but the women’s enthusiasm surprised.
However, Taiwanese enthusiasm for shooting should not be exaggerated: there are not many similar shooting clubs. It is safe to say that large districts were shocked by the Russian invasion and small districts began to prepare for the crisis as a result.
The number of women in the club’s activities has increased from ten percent to more than a third. According to Chiang, they are 22 to 40 years old and middle-class. Today, 15 people start the course, and 8 of them are women.
“The increase in the proportion of women came as a surprise,” Chiang says, but knows the reason for the surprise.
“Women want to be able to defend their families.”
The course uses air guns.
At the beginning of each course, you will be asked what brought the course participants. Today, almost all women mention Ukraine or national defense, most men say the games inspired shooting.
Hu Chia-Wei believes the news videos filmed in Ukraine have had a significant impact on Taiwanese women.
“We have seen how women make Molotov cocktails in Ukraine and how they are involved in the war.”
In Taiwan, a debate has arisen as to whether compulsory military service should be extended to women.
“I fully support the idea,” Hu says.
According to Max Chiang, in recent months, there have been more and more participants in the courses of the Taipai shooting club who want to prepare for a war situation.
Course participants practice hitting the target.
Ukraine with the war, many reforms have begun to be planned in Taiwan. In 2013, an extension of the men’s conscript service, which has been reduced to four months, is planned again.
Taiwan has moved towards a professional army, but now politicians have woken up to the fact that it may not be enough for defense. The war in Ukraine has shown that everyone’s skills are needed.
Max Chiang, a former professional soldier, thinks the length of service is not a problem, but its quality. It is generally considered poor and the service is called a summer camp.
“A lot of men come to our courses because they didn’t learn to shoot in the military.”
The training of reservists is being stepped up, and citizens will be able to practice defense in missile strikes. A crisis manual is also being written for civilians.
The doctrine of Ukraine has been that motivated and skilled civilians are able to put a lot of frost on a larger army – considered to be downright superior. So many in Taiwan have suggested some form of training for civilians in urban combat as well.
At least not yet politicians have warmed up to the idea.
Perhaps Ukraine’s greatest asset has been its will to defend its country, ie its readiness to die for its own country. The Taiwanese will to defend their country has always been a controversial issue. Some think it’s really big, others really small.
Eventually the will to defend is not seen until the truth comes. However, it is assumed that the will to defend the country has increased with the war in Ukraine.
If war broke out in Taiwan, Hu would, of course, be immediately involved, one way or another.
“I’m ready for war anywhere.”
Inevitably, he wouldn’t grab a gun, as he’s also come up with another way to help. He plans to prepare for future threats by learning new languages. Hu would be able to interpret and advise if people from other countries came to Taiwan to fight. That is what has happened in Ukraine.
Hu got this idea in an international language exchange online group where he himself studied English and gave Chinese lessons to others. His exchange partner was a Ukrainian man from Kiev. That, too, brought Ukraine closer to Hun’s heart.
Hu Chia-Wei on a lunch break of the day-long course.
Is there China’s threat to Taiwan really increased with the war in Ukraine? Depends on who you ask, but the majority of experts in the field seem to think not. It may even be the other way around.
“Russia has some of the most powerful armies in the world, and its attack on Ukraine has not been successful, which makes China wonder if Taiwan should be attacked,” said a researcher at the National Defense and Security Research Institute in Taiwan. Su Tzu-Yun in a remote interview.
Su also points out that in the fall, Xi is likely to complain for a new term to lead the party and China, and Xin is not worth taking big risks before then.
Read more: What has China learned from the war in Ukraine? Researcher: If your own army has a great reputation, you shouldn’t go to waste insecure wars
Instead, the situation in Taiwan may be worsening for other reasons, experts say, for Hong Kong, for example To the South China Morning Post.
The Chinese army will soon be strong enough to take over Taiwan militarily, so it will be bolder. In addition, the heavily activated U.S. operations in East Asia and the Pacific scare China. The United States is also increasingly supporting its ally Taiwan, both in words and in arms.
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Opinion polls show that Taiwanese people really want the situation to ease in the direction of China. This can also be seen as a lesson learned from Ukraine: to avoid war, it is worth working shoulder to shoulder. The middle of the war is absolutely awful.
Hu Chia-Wei interprets Ukraine’s example as meaning that Taiwan cannot count on its close support for the United States to fight alongside it – hinted or promised by US president Joe Biden anything. Instead, other types of help, such as weapons and intelligence, could come from abroad.
“The situation in the war between Taiwan and China would be the same as in Ukraine. If the United States really brought in its army, World War III could break out. The United States first thinks of its own citizens and the rest of the world, ”Hu says.
“That’s why we can’t wait for help from other countries.”
Next, Hu plans to learn to shoot with a rifle. It would be more powerful in a war than a pistol.
Read more: Tensions between China and the US escalate in the Pacific, but if war broke out, who would win? Experts answer.
Hu Chia-Wei will next learn how to use a rifle.
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