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.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
RSS