For $35, Taiwan readying citizens for war with China

Taipei: Taiwan is educating its people on what to do in the event of a Chinese invasion, a once-distant chance that is now seen as a very real possibility on this self-governing island. According to reports, the training workshops, which resemble cooking or language classes, are held on the weekends at the community centre located below a red-brick Presbyterian church that is 100 years old. Kuma Academy, the most well-known of a few private civil defence training organisations that have popped up in Taiwan lately, most recently conducted an all-day class last Saturday. Teachers instructed students on cognitive warfare, invasion scenarios, and how to recognise Chinese troops in front of a banner bearing the group’s logo—a cartoon bear holding an assault rifle; the group’s name is “black bear” in Chinese. According to Ho Cheng-hui, co-founder of Kuma Academy, practical first-aid and rescue exercises in the afternoon included performing evacuation operations and applying tourniquets. Ho told a local news platform in an interview that despite Taiwan’s existence under the threat of Chinese military incursion for the previous 70 years, there hasn’t been any sense of war preparedness. Citizen Defence Ho, a security expert, and Puma Shen founded the nonprofit Kuma Academy in late 2021. As a result of China’s constant provocations across the Taiwan Strait, demand for classes has skyrocketed throughout the nation. According to Ho, “in the general public’s imagination of what war would entail, it just happens between two armies and doesn’t really affect civilian populations. “Our objective is to begin preparing all facets of Taiwanese society for full-scale citizen defence,” he said. The course costs about $35 and is given four or five times a week at sites all over the island. It frequently sells out minutes after tickets go on sale. On this Saturday, many students – mainly in their 20s and 30s, with more than half of them women – cited the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a catalyst for attending. “The Ukraine-Russia war really hit me, in the sense that we also have a hostile neighbor who wants to attack us,” Hsieh Hui-yin, a 32-year-old participant said. “In Taiwan, we are taught to be prepared for earthquakes, to have an emergency bag in the house,” she said. “I think we should have the same approach to war – if you’re prepared, you’re not going to panic.” Fundamentally, the introductory training is a psychological boot camp designed to equip students with the mindset and skills they need to overcome feelings of hopelessness or a delusion of security in the face of Chinese threats. Battling Grey-Zone Warfare Beijing views the 23 million-person democracy island as a rebellious province and has threatened to take it by force if necessary. Taiwan, which denies Beijing’s claims of sovereignty, has never been a component of the People’s Republic of China, which was established in 1949. In recent years, incursions by Chinese aircraft into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone have almost become a regular occurrence. This strategy, known as “gray zone warfare” by Taipei’s military, aims to tax the island’s defence capabilities and sap morale. Beijing has also initiated waves of cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, as the Kuma Academy class described, with the goal of confusing and frightening the populace and undermining their confidence in the Taipei government. Since June, more than 1,000 individuals have registered for Kuma Academy’s introductory course, or “Basis Camp.” But as the organisation ramps up operations and broadens its course offerings, it has a much larger population in mind: training 3 million citizens over the following three years. When Taiwanese semiconductor billionaire Robert Tsao, the founder of United Microelectronics Corp., promised to contribute more than $30 million to train millions of “Kuma warriors,” the organisation got a huge boost. Additionally, there might be a market to support such high goals. The willingness of residents to protect themselves against a Chinese invasion increased from 33% in September 2020 to 47% in December 2022, according to a Taiwan National Security Studies survey. According to Chen Fang-yu, an assistant professor of political science at Soochow University in Taipei, the grassroots organisations like Kuma Academy are primarily to blame for the trend. According to Chen, “Kuma Academy is playing a very important part right now.” “Their instruction increases Taiwan’s resolve and readiness for self-defense. After taking this course, I think individuals will know what to do and won’t give up. Taiwan’s Defence Expenditure Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s government has also taken action in response to China’s threats, increasing defence expenditure by 14% and extending the length of mandatory military service from four to one year. In order to incorporate components like weapon training, Chen said he would like to see private organisations and the government work more closely together. There is a disconnect between civilians and the troops, he declared. “The government should arrange for additional military training by taking advantage of the popularity of civil defence classes.” At the same time, opposition lawmakers have criticised civil defence initiatives, including Wu Sz-huai of the Kuomintang Party, charging the governing Democratic Progressive Party with lacking faith in the nation’s armed forces. However, many of the Kuma Academy students in the church basement departed the day’s lesson motivated and prepared for additional instruction. Jen Wu, a 31-year-old IT expert, said, “Even after one day, this class has already increased my confidence.” “I already knew that Taiwan is not as weak as some people believe, but it really helps to see everything organised so logically.” I want to enrol in some advanced classes and determine how I can be of more assistance. Such mentalities will be essential for preventing and countering Chinese bullying, according to Kuma’s Ho. Ho believes China is very conscious that everything really depends on whether or not the people of Taiwan are willing to persist in maintaining their own society. “Therefore, one of Kuma Academy’s objectives is to inspire and awaken people’s courage and readiness to keep standing up for themselves,” he concluded. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .