From our correspondent
TAIPEI (TAIWAN) In Taipei, after Tomb Sweeping Day, children have returned to school and shops have reopened: the holiday is one of the heartiest on the island (the National Palace Museum is full of it ). order and courtesy as it happens here, with many children wrinkling their noses in admiration at the wonders of imperial dynasties). We try not to think about what is happening over the horizon, in the sea that faces China. Back to life as always. Nobody wants war, but Taiwan is preparing for it. It’s been like this for months. Even more after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine; and after the new, ongoing threats from China. And it really is: thousands attend self-defense group training courses every day. Families, professionals, even children. Queue, order. Like in the museum. They are held by the “civilian training groups” organized by privately funded NGOs.
“If need be, we will fight to the death. Whatever happens, taking Taiwan will not be easy,” said Robert Tsao, 76, the country’s second richest man, founder of semiconductor company Umc, which donated $100 million to the Kuma Academy last October Young activist Puma Shen’s self-defense group. Billionaire, liberal, Buddhist (born to Muslim parents), Tsao speaks to us while staring out the window of his penthouse in downtown Taipei at lush Daan Park. “This is the last corner of free China,” he whispers before walking barefoot to a Tibetan bell, which he tinkles among the Han Dynasty bronze vases and the essays by Pinker and Harari. “Of course, China could really attack us – he claims –. We are talking about a concrete option. But it’s not at all true that we can’t do anything about it. We can avoid sending false messages, as the pro-Russian people of Ukraine did, for example, when they called on Putin to intervene and led him to believe that the invasion would be quick and easy. But we must prepare for all eventualities. We will defend our freedom to the last.”
Among the most active self-defense groups on the island is the “Forward Alliance” founded by Enoch Wu: 42 years old, Obama-like attitude (his white shirt sleeves rolled up tight; perfect English), Wu was born in Chicago but has lived in Chicago since she was 6. year of life in Taipei. He worked as a lawyer for Goldman Sachs (in 2022 he was included in Time’s list of the 100 Next World Leaders) and then entered politics in the Democratic Progressive Party, President Tsai Ing-wen’s party. In the past 12 months, it has trained over 6,000 citizens, about a thousand a month. “Our people have a lot of will, but the will is not enough,” he says when we meet him in the club’s headquarters, a large, bright open space in the middle of the city where only the very young work and on the walls are dozens of photos of exercises —. It takes knowledge and skill. And a united civil society that serves as a warning to the attackers. We learn that from Ukraine. It’s important for people to work together and commit to bridging the divide.”
Wu’s challenge, which served the country’s special forces for two years, is precisely to prepare for the worst – and prepare for it. “Our neighbor is a threat and has never ruled out using violence against us. In fact, he uses it. It surrounds us, the airspace crossings are non-stop. And unfortunately, I think that if intimidation doesn’t work for us, the ultimate solution for China will be to put its boots on the ground.” Calls keep coming in at the Forward Alliance headquarters. “We recruit volunteers – explains Wu -. It starts with creating the family safety plan. We cover trauma care, medical care, injuries, search and rescue and most importantly how to survive without a smartphone. That’s the real problem today. We have around 100 Instructors. 80% of them are active duty firefighters and paramedics.’
But what is the profile of the participants? “90% of the participants in our courses are under 50 years old – explains Wu – and the majority, I would say 60-70%, are women. This is also typical of NGO volunteerism in Taiwan in general. But here we see couples, husbands and wives. Families with children even with a 3 year old, a 7 year old brother with a 10 year old sister. Lessons take place in modules of a maximum of 3 hours in order to keep concentration high». The courses take place weekly in different places on the island: from 8 to 19, with simulations of accidents, roadblocks. “It’s like a movie set,” says Wu. Who emphasizes: “We learned a lot from Ukraine, where we saw how a whole society mobilized against the invader. One of our volunteers has just returned from there. But others have also been to Turkey and Syria, because the scenario of a possible military invasion has a lot in common with the scenario of major catastrophes such as earthquakes. However, compared to Ukraine, we are an island: the time factor will be crucial in the event of an attack».
As mentioned, the funding of these groups is entirely private. Wu: “If we don’t accept public money, we can be flexible and agile and act quickly. We want to add value to the government, so we want to be partners, not the ones who go begging for money.’ The idea is to be independent in every way. Be ready alone.
“I don’t think for a second that the United States will abandon us – Bob Tsao had told us while adjusting his very white hair -. America didn’t sacrifice so many young lives in the Pacific during World War II for nothing. And no one can afford for Taiwan to become a Chinese Communist aircraft carrier. But our society must be ready. The main forces of world obscurantism are at work, Putin’s Russia and communist China. All the exact antipodes of what we call enlightenment. They act against reason, they don’t respect science, they don’t believe in humanism».