Politics When China attacks - people in Taiwan prepare for Day X
In the office building of an inconspicuous side street in Taipei, an emergency is on the agenda. While the bustling city life of the Taiwanese capital rages outside between street vendors and food stalls, inside it's all about warfare, propaganda and first aid. 40 predominantly young people have gathered at the Kuma Academy on a Saturday - the majority of them women.
21.06.2024, 08:32
SDA
"The main reason I came here is to learn about the current state of Taiwan's defense," says 27-year-old Su. The island republic with more than 23 million inhabitants is separated from China by a strait (Taiwan Strait) that is around 130 kilometers wide at its narrowest point. The communist government in Beijing counts Taiwan as part of its territory and wants to bring the island under its control, even though it has never ruled it before and an independently elected government has been in power there for decades.
Beijing refers to history: After the Second World War, Taiwan was awarded to the Republic of China. However, a civil war raged there between the communists and the supporters of the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang. When the Nationalists lost, they fled to Taiwan and continued to rule there as the Republic of China. In the same year, 1949, revolutionary leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Beijing. Beijing repeatedly threatened to "reunite" Taiwan with the mainland, including through the military, if it did not succeed by peaceful means.
Training for war awareness
"The academy is more about creating awareness for a possible war," says co-founder Shen Po-yang - also known as Puma Shen in Taiwan. People should be prepared in case China starts its invasion of Taiwan and not panic. According to Shen, the best time for an attack from Beijing's point of view could be between 2025 and 2027, or when more than half of the Taiwanese surrender. If enough people have the knowledge from the academy's courses, they could protect themselves and others, says Shen, who sits on the parliamentary defense committee for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
According to the academy, around 40,000 people have already completed the training since October 2022. They range in age from young people to army veterans. Almost a third of the course participants are women. Participant Su explains that women are more interested in the course because men have already been in the army due to compulsory military service in Taiwan and are therefore already familiar with the subject matter. Academy spokesman Aaron Huang also points out that men are more often deployed in the public service, for example in the fire department or disaster relief after earthquakes, and therefore already have experience.
The first hour: Invasion
The morning at the "Civil Defense Training" begins with heavy fare: in the war theory course, a lecturer talks about so-called grey zone tactics. Taiwan experiences this almost daily when fighter jets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army fly over the unofficial center line in the Taiwan Strait and invade the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) - not to be confused with airspace.
The teacher also mentally plays out an invasion. China's military offered a foretaste of this at the end of May, when the navy, air force and army rehearsed a blockade around Taiwan and smaller islands close to China. In an emergency, China wants to cut off escape routes from Taiwan and block outside help for the island. The leadership ordered the exercise as a punishment because Taiwan's new president Lai Ching-te took office a few days earlier and, from Beijing's point of view, clearly stated his intentions of independence in his speech.
Beijing sees him and his pro-independence DPP as separatists. Taipei has never officially declared independence. As a result, many countries have been at loggerheads with Beijing. Very few countries officially recognize Taiwan. Even the USA, Taiwan's closest ally, is not one of them, although Washington has promised support in the event of defense.
Advice and war videos
At the academy, a lecturer now talks about propaganda and influence on the internet, especially via social media. Even before the elections in January, Taiwanese politicians had accused China of influencing public opinion in this way. Participant Ariel You is pleased with the advice. It helps her to be more vigilant about information on the internet, says the late 20-year-old. Puma Shen calls for cyber security to be strengthened. China's hackers are very strong, he explains. He also wants more protection on platforms such as Tiktok against Chinese propaganda.
Despite the serious topics, the mood in the seminar room is cheerful. Participant You is mainly waiting for the first aid part. "I learned bandaging techniques when I was younger and then forgot them," she says. But before it's time to get down to business, the paramedic giving the lesson suddenly makes war seem very close: he plays a video of a Ukrainian soldier whose leg has been ripped off by a mine and who uses a tourniquet to tie off his own stump so that he doesn't bleed to death.
Some people in the room hide behind the course materials to avoid having to watch the gruesome scene. Shortly afterwards, they practise how to apply the tourniquet correctly or carry away the injured. Participant Su says she is now a little calmer: "I think knowing some things makes it easier to understand that it's not so easy for them (China) when they come to Taiwan and want to attack us."
