The senior-high school section of Chung Cheng Armed Forces Preparatory School has registered 580 cadets out of 900 applicants, a three-year high.
The numbers show that willingness to serve in the military has not been affected by pension reform. They also shatter the lie that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) saber-rattling affects willingness to serve among Taiwanese.
A former director of National Defense University’s Fu Hsing Kang College who became an instructor following several years of military service applied for retirement at age 47 and began receiving his lifetime pension.
In addition to a monthly stipend of about NT$60,000, he continues to work, having entered the tourism industry. Many of his coworkers are amazed at his double income.
His example shows that most service members have a guaranteed livelihood after retiring, which is nothing like what some rumor-happy people have said about severe effects on one’s livelihood leading to a poor quality of life.
Good treatment of and benefits for veterans seem to have been factors for many applicants taking the preparatory school’s placement exams.
As for the CCP’s threats to use military force against Taiwan, some people in social discourse are trying to convince others that bravery and willingness to serve would take a hit among most people.
After all, nobody who serves in any country’s military is particularly keen about the prospect of war, and the threat to life and limb.
However, if the CCP launches a war, all Taiwanese would need to face this trial. It would be unavoidable for everyone.
If everyone has the resolve to face a national crisis together, and show determination to resist and fight back, it would be a blow to the CCP’s ambitions for Taiwan.
That so many fresh graduates of junior-high schools are willing to apply to the preparatory school — the nation’s base institution for the cultivation of officers and the core of the military — clearly shows that the younger generation is not only willing to fight back against aggressors, but is also willing to bear the burden of protecting home and country.
Chen Chi-nung is a former specialist training instructor at Cheng Kung Lin Base.
Translated by Tim Smith
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