Loading ...Before we came to Taiwan, we were advised of a few things:
(1) Never talk about salary with others since we were guaranteed that we make more than “they” do and talking about salary would only lead to ill feelings
(2) Do not make friends with the “locals”
(3) Never, under any circumstances, engage in discussion of local, Taiwan, politics since we are from the US and our views would never overcome those of the “locals”
But since I’m in a fairly anonymous environment (although anyone from work that visits my site will know who I am, since I’ve already stated that I’m aric), I feel empowered to discuss my views on the Taiwan military and their “role” in Taiwan’s quest for independence. First, I have to preface my comments with my observation that not all Taiwan residents wish for independence from China. I’ve been told that polls in the news say its about a 50/50 split. But, as you can imagine, the voice of the “independence seekers” is much greater than the voice of the others simply because those who wish for independence are much more adamant in their “cause”. I’ll write more on this later since I’m at work now and we’re leaving in about 30 minutes.. so onto the meat of my discussion..
The Taiwan Military.. add ‘military’ to the end of anything and it makes it sounds ‘official’ and ‘formidable’. But the Taiwan Military is anything but formidable. First, you have to understand that Taiwan’s only real enemy is China. China wants its island back and people living in Taiwan want to be independent of China. Truth be told, I don’t think China gives a rat’s ass about Taiwan. China’s economy will smoke Taiwan in a few years. I was told like the top 100 companies in Taiwan have all invested heavily in China. Thats got to tell you something. China, in my opinion, does not want Taiwan to become independent simply because it would be an admission of defeat. China would lose face in the eye’s of the world. In any case, when I step outside of the office compound, I occasionally see tanks being ferried around on flatbed trucks. F16 and Mirage fighter jets cruise through the air, training that the faithful day when they’ll be called into action. All for what? To defend Taiwan against China. I was told by a co-worker that the US has “promised” to help Taiwan in the event their livlihood is threatend by China’s military, the US will intervene by sending aircraft carriers and battleships to the region, presumably to occupy the Taiwan Straights (the portion of the ocean that divides China and Taiwan). The US told Taiwan they need a military force capable of defending themselves for 2 weeks. Two weeks would give the US enough time to send ships to the region. The Taiwan miltary said that 2 weeks would be impossible and that they believed their military “strength” would only be able to hold off an attack from China for a period of 1 week. China, hearing of this little deal, publicly claimed that their military would occupy the island of Taiwan within 3 hours of launching an attack. Furthermore, China has about 140 short-range missles aimed at strategic targets in Taiwan. Personally, I think 140 missles would be enough to sink the island itself. So this begs the question, why does Taiwan have tanks? I mentioned earlier that Taiwan owns F16 fighter jets. Whats funny is, whenever the US military decides to sell Taiwan a stripped down version of the F16 (think of it as a Civic DX), China must approve of the sale. If China knows Taiwan only buys military hardware to defend against a mainlain attack AND they approve of the sale, do you think China really gives a crap that Taiwan has the hardware to begin with? I think I will email Microsoft and ask them to add this to their Encarta encyclopedia.. file it under, “act of futility’.