A Taiwanese tycoon has announced his plan to train 3.3 million ” civilian warriors ” and marksmen to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion , using NT$1 billion ($32 million) of his own money.
The announcement by Robert Tsao , a well-known Taiwanese businessman and founder of United Microelectronics Corp, comes amid growing military activity between Taiwan and China. On Thursday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry announced that its soldiers had shot down a Chinese drone over Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands.
At a news conference, Tsao, 75, said the Chinese Communist Party’s threat to Taiwan was growing. Wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet, he promised funds to train “three million people in three years.” Working with the island’s civil defense organization, the Kuma Academy, 60% of the funds would go to building an army of “warriors,” and 40% to training another 300,000 how to shoot.
“If we can successfully resist China’s ambitions, we can not only safeguard our motherland, but also make a great contribution to the world situation and the development of civilization,” he said.
Tsao was previously an active supporter of Taiwan’s unification with China and had renounced his Taiwanese citizenship in protest against a government investigation of his company. However, he changed his mind after witnessing the crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, particularly the Yuen Long MTR attack. On Thursday he also announced that he had renounced his Singaporean citizenship and that his Taiwanese citizenship had been restored and that he planned to “die in Taiwan and support its people.”
“Given the Chinese Communist Party’s record of atrocities against its own people and its brutal domination of those like the Uyghurs who are not even Chinese, the CCP’s threats have only ignited among the Taiwanese people a bitter hatred against this threatening enemy and a determination shared. to resist,” he said, according to .
The Kuma Academy was established in 2021, amid growing desire among Taiwan’s civilian population for training in guerrilla warfare, self-defense, and first aid skills. In August, they launched a crowdfunding campaign and Tsao reached out to them.
“This goal is ambitious and the challenge is daunting, but Taiwan has no time to hesitate,” the academy said in a statement.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the community’s appetite for civilian training grew, but the government responded that it has focused on developing its armed and reserve troops. After moving away from conscription-based armed forces, Taiwan has struggled to fill positions and maintain an adequate fighting force, reportedly numbering fewer than 90,000 soldiers.
Citing the efforts of the British people in World War II and of the Ukrainians against the ongoing Russian invasion, the Kuma Academy said the will of the Taiwanese people to resist an invasion “will determine the outcome of the war.”
“War is not a matter for a few, and defending Taiwan is a matter for all Taiwanese. Everyone has the ability and responsibility to bring their own strength to war.”
Tensions between Taiwan and China have risen sharply in recent months, particularly after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. In response, China’s military surrounded Taiwan with live-fire exercises that lasted several days and included missile tests and multiple crossings of the median line, an unofficial border across the Taiwan Strait that China’s government recently rejected.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that its soldiers had . The drone had flown over military posts on Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands, which lie just off the Chinese mainland, and ignored warnings to leave, the ministry said. Taiwan had previously fired flares in repeated drone flights during and after the post-Pelosi drills, but video footage from recent flights over the islands showed Taiwanese soldiers throwing stones, causing some embarrassment.
This week, the defense force warned it would shoot down any drone that ignored warnings to leave airspace, after President Tsai Ing-wen urged “strong countermeasures” against Chinese provocations.
Chinese drills focused on a blockade of Taiwan, disrupting air and sea traffic and hitting key shipping ports, but on Friday Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said China’s military was also on hand, aiming to prevent foreign forces came to the aid of Taiwan. in case of attack.
