For the past ten years, Carl Pelletier, a Taiwanese of Quebec origin living in the Kaohsiung region, in the south of the island, had envisaged a peaceful existence on this autonomous territory, between work as an English teacher and motorcycle rides. in the assemblies. And then, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, coupled with the ever more bellicose rhetoric deployed by Beijing since the end of the 2010s against Taiwan, turned everything upside down.
“I never thought I would have to leave here one day, drops the man in his sixties, met last July with his wife, Mai, from the area. But it is now part of our new reality. At home we have suitcases ready, just in case. I also renewed my registration in the expatriate register of the Canadian representation in Taipei. And, with work colleagues, I am even considering taking courses in self-defense and the handling of weapons. In anticipation of what might happen. »
He is not the only one.
Driven by the dramatic images coming from Ukraine and by the acts of Chinese military intimidation which are intensifying in the Taiwanese skies, there are now thousands of inhabitants of the Asian island to think a little more seriously about the war and especially resistance, and this, by integrating training sessions in the handling of firearms and civil defense in urban areas.
“After the Chinese repression in Hong Kong in 2019, the number of students began to increase, summarizes Max Chiang, president of the company Polar Light, which offers this type of training in Taiwan. And the trend has been growing since the start of the year with demand two to four times higher than in previous years. More than half of new registrants say it was the war in Ukraine that prompted them to come see us. »
Defend the island “at all costs”
15 years ago, when he founded his company, Mr. Chiang says he mostly faced skepticism from people around him. “We had a dialogue with China then, so why seek to defend against it? I was told. But perceptions have changed. From now on, people are aware that Taiwan is a country in its own right, that its territory is threatened and that it deserves to be defended. »
Since the beginning of the year, nearly 2,000 people have decided to take the dummy weapons offered for training by Polar Light, adding to the 4,000 who preceded them in 2021.
“The clientele is very varied, continues the business manager. They are people from everywhere, aged 18 to 65. Women are also more numerous. They represented 5 to 10% of students before. They are now over 40%. »
Once a month, Yu Quan Wang, ex-soldier, employee of a new technologies company and trainer for Polar Light in the region of Taichung, south of the capital, meets several dozen of these resistance fighters in training.
“We train in street fighting, in the assembly and disassembly of weapons,” he says, looking shy, but with a determined gaze. I feel that this is something that is taken very seriously by the participants now. It’s a bit like building an insurance policy. We don’t know if and when we’ll need it, but it’s better to have one. »
The Taiwanese government has allowed this type of war and resistance training for several years, ensuring however that the weapons used are non-lethal. The possession of firearms is strictly controlled in the autonomous territory and no modification to this framework is envisaged, despite the circumstances.
“Hong Kong and Taiwan are of course two different realities,” said Lawrence, a Hong Kong dissident in his early thirties who took refuge on the island after the fall of its democracy in 2019. “But history has taught us that freedom can disappear very quickly in the face of an authoritarian regime. What will save that of the Taiwanese is national defence, yes, but above all their collective will to want to keep it, at all costs. »
Improve your military defense
In the pages of Guardian, Admiral Lee Hsi-ming, a former navy chief and chief of the general staff, recently called for the construction of a government-backed civilian homeland defense force. According to him, it could be trained in the use of light weapons, such as javelin missiles or small drones, and rely on a hyperlocal command with access to weapons and first aid caches in the event of an attack. This resistance could “wage a guerrilla, strike and flee. It can be a kind of logistical force,” he said.
A project not fully defended by the government, which prefers instead to consider an extension of military conscription in order to strengthen Taiwan’s defense capabilities and abolish a non-military public service option towards which many young Taiwanese, undoubtedly more pacifist, have decided to turn in the last few years. This is at least what Interior Minister Hsu Kuo-yung presented to the island’s parliamentarians at the beginning of the summer as a means of dealing with “existential threats”. “We don’t expect government support,” said Yu Quan Wang. The urgency is there and we must, as citizens, accelerate our preparation for resistance. »
For Hsien-Sen Lin, director of the Institute of Political Science at the National Taiwan Normal University, “the use of civilian power to support military operations” is a good thing, but “Taiwan must also immediately strengthen its national defense by increasing its budget and by strengthening the military conscription” of citizens of combat age, he explains in an interview. A call heard by the government which, in July, proposed an increase in the envelope devoted to its defense to increase it to 4% of GDP – against 2.1% for a few years.
“An attack from China is possible within the next five years, predicts Max Chiang. It’s a short period to prepare and above all to overcome our fragility in the face of an invasion,” he concludes.
With Alisa Chih Yun Chen
This report was funded with support from the Transat-Le Devoir International Journalism Fund.