Taiwan military restarts 'anti-communist' classes after 25 years
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- Taiwan's defence ministry restored "anti-communist patriotic education" for military academy graduates — classes that had been renamed and effectively shelved since 2002 — saying graduates need to recognize national security threats and the mission of "why we fight, and for whom we fight."
- Lecturers from the Mainland Affairs Council, National Security Council, Ministry of Justice, and Academia Sinica will deliver the curriculum, with the stated aim of establishing "a clear awareness of friend and foe" among graduates.
- Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council, posted on X late July 4 that as of July 3, Taiwan was tracking a record 110-plus Chinese military and Coast Guard vessels along the first island chain, calling it "a clear sign of [China's] expansionism."
- China's Coast Guard launched a new patrol off Taiwan's east coast on July 4, drawing a sharp Taiwanese response; Taipei says Beijing has no jurisdiction in those waters and rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.
- China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment outside office hours; Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
- The historical context: during the Cold War, campaigns warning against "communist bandits" were widespread in Taiwan before the formal programme was rebranded as "patriotic education" in 2002.
Why it matters: Taipei is reverting to Cold War-era ideological framing at the precise moment Chinese military pressure is at documented highs — a record 110-plus PLA and Coast Guard vessels tracked along the first island chain as of July 3. For Taiwan's roughly 23 million residents, the policy shift reframes the cross-strait standoff in existential terms within officer training, not just strategic ones.
