A Ministry of National Defense post on Facebook showcasing environmentally friendly inventions by military students has attracted controversy, with many criticizing the inventions and questioning the military’s misplaced priorities in education.
The ministry’s Facebook fan page on Sunday displayed some of the inventions, including a solar-powered vest and a portable lithium power bank, ahead of World Environment Day on Monday.
However, the post drew a lot of negative comments, with one sarcastically asking if the squad leader should tell troops to switch over to side B as side A was now charged.
Photo: Screen grab from the Energy Education Resource Center’s Web Site
Another commenter said the invention defeats the purpose of a tactical vest, as it is so bright, it would make soldiers easy targets for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
The vest has no room for additional ammunition storage or for a radio, a commenter named Hsia Yi-chiang (夏宜強) wrote, adding that lithium batteries, when exposed to gunfire or high heat, would create a chemical reaction, making them an excellent improvised explosive device.
Hsia said the fanpage administrator should not hide behind the excuse of supporting students’ “creative efforts,” adding that if future military officers developed such products, it would be indicative of a failing military education system or that the military’s top brass were trying to cozy up to groups that would benefit from such “creations.”
A source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the military, in line with an Executive Yuan white paper, must abide by the Ministry of Education’s “Integration of Clean Energy Systems and Talent Fostering” Project, which says that in addition to military bases developing energy production and storage facilities for strategic drills or disaster prevention, it should also educate officers and soldiers about energy generation and “develop model systems that are in line with military needs.”
However, the Russia-Ukraine war has demonstrated that war is destructive and cannot be made “environmentally friendly,” the source said on Thursday.
It is therefore questionable what kind of “military needs” the development of solar-powered vests and other equipment is seeking to meet, the source said.
The lithium power bank would not be able to satisfy the energy needs of the military, but would probably only be useful to charge personal equipment like cellphones, the source said, adding that the power generation method was questionable, as some have said it could expose a soldier’s location.
The issue has generated controversy not because people are judging or being critical of students’ creativity, but because it highlights concern whether teachers have adequately taught them the concepts of “goal, methods and means” or whether the teachers themselves lack knowledge about such concepts, the source said.
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