Taiwan, Taiwan
CNN
–
The draft doding scandal in Taiwan, involving many actors, influencers and musicians, shines a misguided spotlight on draft forces and reserves who can stand during the island and China’s invasion one day.
Taiwan’s military service, running alongside traditional troops, faces accusations of not preparing conscription for actual war.
On Monday, authorities charged 28 defendants. Prosecutors allege that between 2016 and the beginning of the year, four rings helped 24 healthy men dodge the draft by fake hypertension and obtaining medical exemptions, helping them win a total of $7.63 million ($255,000).
At least 11 celebrities are currently under investigation.
Among those charged were actor Darren Wang. The 34-year-old was accused of paying $3.6 million ($120,000) for a fake hypertension diagnosis, gaining fame in the Chinese-speaking world as the boyish heartbeat of our time, 10 years ago.
He then began mandatory military service for men between the ages of 19 and 36. CNN contacted Wang’s representative for comment but received no response.
Such organized efforts to avoid conscription are viewed primarily as signs of indifference to the service of the people, rather than fear of military desolation.
“Presponding drafting is not a fatigue from training, it’s a sense of waste of time,” Chieh Chung, assistant researcher at the Taiwan National Defense Institute (NDSR), told CNN.
“Most of the time during the service we are dedicated to other tasks and are not actually combat-related.”
In 1949, the nationalist government lost a bloody civil war with the rebel Communist Party and fled to Taiwan, introducing forced military service to the island. That system has been in place in one way or another ever since – Beijing’s design on the island, which the Communist Party claims to be its own territory, is forced upon its own use.
However, military service has long been considered heroic. Conscriptions describe it as monotonous, confused, and often unrelated to modern warfare. It is a combination of indoor lectures, waiting times and outdated ritual training.
“Apart from learning to be effective, you’ll also be firing some bullets, giving lectures, mowing lawns, and putting up security duties. Everything related to nausea and polish’s military,” Mike Hunzeker, a former Taiwan-trained US officer, told CNN.
US officials who are not allowed to speak openly will quietly warn Taiwan’s reserves that remain the soft abdomen of its defensive posture.
One official said millions of previous conscriptions existed “on paper,” but years of truncated services and minimal review training made them “inadequate for modern warfare.”
Previous CNN interviews have shown that previous interviews with conscriptions have been dark pictures. Few or none of the live ammunition of units, decades-old rifles shared between cannon and mortar training.
There is no official estimate of the number of illegal draft Dodgers, but a tally by the Ministry of Home Affairs shows that between 2021 and 2023, cases of suspected obstruction of military service have risen from 309 to 553.
“It’s essential to reform military service as soon as possible,” said Wu Tzu-Li, Associate Research Fellow at INDSR. “In the end, fighting ultimately results in people who operate the weapons rather than the weapons themselves, so it’s important to receive solid education and training.”
Even Taiwanese leaders acknowledge the issue. Shortly after taking office in 2016, former President Tsai Ing-Wen called for cleaning reforms in contrast to papers around the issue, wasteful talent and operating inefficiently in so many different ways.
Last year, they sent military aircraft, naval vessels and coast guards near the island for nearly a day in response to the growing security threat from Beijing, which conducted at least three major military exercises around Taiwan. As of January 2024, the minimum active duty period increased from just four months to one year under previous policy.
These changes seem to be fruitful over time. Alex Chang was a recent conscription in his mid-20s who spoke to CNN and observed that training has been strengthened since the extension of forced military service. “The sound of bullet fire and explosions of hand rena bullets is moving non-stop on the training ground,” he said.
The effectiveness of the change has not yet been seen. Critics say that unless Taiwan is revamped how and what is being taught, young men will continue to see the draft as symbolic rather than strategic, not symbolic.
“What’s important is what training will be provided for new recruits,” says Chieh. “It’s important not to make them feel like they’ve been wasted for a year.”
Another US official added: “Taiwan has made good progress in strengthening the realism of reserve training, but there is nonetheless effort to update equipment and reform the organization of reserve forces.”
“Retraining and equipping existing reserves to operate asymmetric platforms such as drones and anti-aircraft missiles will have a major impact on Taiwan’s ability to stop conflict.”
In a statement to CNN, the Ministry of Defense said: “Marriage service is a civil duty as stipulated in the constitution. Any attempt to avoid conscription by any means should be condemned and subject to legal action.”
He added that the new one-year training period will include “conscriptions will receive systematic and comprehensive military training, including enlistment, stations, specialization, basic training, and joint exercises.
Nearby South Korea is another place characterized by long-term hostility with neighbors – military service is taken more seriously, counting down the number of days until major celebrities park their careers to pose as military fatigue.
Rather than undermining reputation, military service is often seen as a sign of key star integrity and patriotism. This gives the impression that they can enhance their careers after taking off their uniforms.
Earlier this month, band BTS’ K-Pop Superstars RM and V became the latest high-profile draftees to be released from the National Service. They each paid tribute to the cheers of around 200 fans when they were released from their mission in Chinchon city after about 18 months of active service.
Five other members of the highly popular group have completed or completed mandatory services and hope that the band will reunite within the next 12 months.
Even football superstar son Heung-Min, who avoided conscription through exemption after winning a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games with the South Korean national team, received four weeks of basic military training.
He said that in order for Taiwan to restore faith in conscription, Beijing will intensify, particularly as it intensifies, it will need to reduce loopholes, improve instruction, and modernize its training to reflect actual threats. It also says that cultural change is necessary. It values service not as a symbol of the sky, but as preparation for a possible battle.
But it depends on whether recent reforms are intact or not.
“Fear” was a former draft lawsuit that “a new system looks like an old system.”
