Taiwan media: Tsai Ing-wen announced the extension of military service, conscripts may be sent to TSMC

Source: Global Times

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] After Tsai Ing-wen announced that Taiwan’s compulsory military service will be extended to one year, Taiwan media further disclosed on the 29th that these draftees will have “new tasks” in the future, that is, they will be responsible for garrison tasks in the combat zone. Including defending the TSMC power plant area.

On December 29, Taiwan's "Executive Yuan" approved the military service adjustment plan. Draft men born after January 1, 2005 will resume active service in the standing army from January 1, 2024, for a period of one year. From 2024, the training for compulsory service will focus on actual combat, adding "intermediate and advanced specialties, new weapons and equipment and civil defense training, urban warfare and company and battalion combat coaches and combat planning drills, Hanguang exercises, civil security training, etc. Exercises" and other training.

Taiwan's "China Times" disclosed on the 29th that the Taiwan Army will establish four garrison brigades by the end of 2023, and the 9,000 one-year conscripts recruited in the first year of 2024 will be the main force of the garrison brigades and will be responsible for the defense in the combat zone. Tasks, including Taiwan's important infrastructure such as oil and electricity, and the security protection of the TSMC power plant area. Taiwan's military officials said that relatively fragile infrastructure such as electric power or TSMC power plants are important protection tasks for the garrison brigade. For important facilities located in remote areas, the garrison brigade will be responsible for the establishment of a task force. The report mentioned that in October this year, foreign media claimed that if the mainland "attacked Taiwan by force", it would severely damage TSMC and cause huge losses to the world economy. US Secretary of State Blinken threatened that TSMC could not fall into the hands of the CCP. The US government is already planning TSMC. emergency response plan. One of the claims is that the United States will withdraw engineers from Taiwan and copy TSMC elsewhere; the other is that "if Taiwan is occupied, the United States will adopt a scorched-earth strategy to destroy all TSMC facilities and prevent Beijing from obtaining advanced chip technology." The "China Times" stated that in order to protect TSMC, Taiwan's "Han Kuang" exercise has carried out "critical infrastructure protection drills" for many times in computer soldiers and actual military exercises, and the Taiwan Army and Gendarmerie special warfare units have also begun to drill important infrastructure Defense, anti-raid and other subjects.

In response to Tsai Ing-wen’s denial that there is US pressure on the extension of military service, Huang Guangguo, an honorary professor of the Department of Psychology at National Taiwan University, wrote on the 29th that US officials frequently criticize Taiwan’s lack of combat readiness training, low defense budget, and short service period, making it incapable of fighting. Now that the Tsai authorities have decided to extend the service period, they even said that there is no pressure from the US, "Isn't this talking nonsense with your eyes open?" He directly criticized the Tsai authorities as "Muyang dogs" who are obedient to the United States. Media person Zhu Kaixiang said on the 29th that in fact, no matter whether a Taiwanese man is a soldier for 4 months or a year, he is cannon fodder. After all, if the People's Liberation Army really wants to "attack Taiwan", it must use its best elites, and four months, one year or even two years of compulsory service Soldiers are not much different. Retired lieutenant general Wu Sihuai believes that the Tsai authorities have reached a tacit agreement with the United States in private to cooperate with the United States in preparing for an "asymmetrical war" with North Korea. "Why should Taiwan be used as a pawn?" Said that since the Democratic Progressive Party came to power, it has blindly obtained political interests on the island with a tough "anti-China" stance, causing cross-strait relations to slide into the abyss; The United States, which has been pushed into the abyss, has been obedient and obedient, and the result is that the Taiwan Strait has become "the most dangerous powder depot." If we don't start with cross-strait dialogue, no matter how many weapons we buy or how long the service period is extended, we will not be able to guarantee cross-strait peace and Taiwan's security. (Zhang Ruo)