Taiwan - Prepping for War | Unreported World

Taiwan is gearing up for war with China these aren't soldiers but civilians learning how to defend their country Taiwan is self-ruled but Beijing believes its part of China and says it'll take the island using Force if necessary Across the Nation preppers are training to resist an invasion but are they really a match for the world's biggest military a force that outnumbers taiwan's 12 to1 if China invaded would you fight yeah of course [Music] [Music] Democratic Taiwan has never been ruled by China but many now believe the threat of an invasion has reached critical levels a lot of Taiwan civilians feel they need to get ready in case there is a war with China I'm on my way to meet a group of them here in one of the country's biggest cities ta Chung they are the Preppers hi there morning Hi how are you good morning nice to see you nice how are you good so you got all your kids yeah you got a t yeah yeah yeah Joe is a nurse who started this training just two months ago at informal schools like this across the country more and more people are spending their time and money learning how to use weapons defensively in this makeshift basement firing range all the weapons are replicas that shoot plastic pellets gun ownership for civilians is illegal in [Music] Taiwan the decision to learn to use a weapon is still quite controversial here Joe says she's thought hard about it when you do this when you actually do the shooting how does it make you feel if China invaded would you fight yeah of course this is closed quarters battle or CQB training the idea is to hold a position and check the building for enemy Fighters good good in taiwan's Den cities if an attack happens it would likely be Urban Warfare like this Joe's focus is on using her first aid skills to support the Army behind the front line she fears the country's hospitals would be overwhelmed in a war some estimates say a war with China could cost 10,000 lives in the first few days alone civilians here want to learn how to deal with a massive casualty situation it's coming up to 8:00 most people have finished work and Central Park here in Tai Chung is deserted except for Joe and her group of Preppers who come here for what they call Self trining where they each share the skills that they have across the country there's a growing movement of groups like Joe's an estimated 1.6 million of taiwan's 23 million people have done some form of civil defense training tonight's exercise is a simulated enemy attack Joe and her wife AFA train together every Friday the delivery may be dramatic but the intent is serious we've all seen in America the the Preppers preparing for doomsday and they are kind of thought of often as sort of quite eccentric is your group different to that do you think enough people in Taiwan are doing this for the rescue mission ends with the casualties carried to safety and these propaganda videos of real life military exercises released by China's Armed Forces show why people are worried beijing's multi-day drills demonstrate how it would Annex Taiwan entirely using live fire exercises fighter jets Naval deployments and ballistic missile launchers across the Taiwan straight the intimidation tactics have a clear message don't begin to think you can resist to understand beijing's fixation with taking Taiwan kinman Island just two miles from mainland China is a good place to start this was once the front line of a war with China messages of Peace are still broadcast across the water to sh [Music] men [Music] after losing to the Communists in a brutal Civil War the nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949 creating the Republic of China kinman was the Battleground over 6,000 people died fighting for the island the Nationalist kept it but Beijing has claimed Taiwan as its territory ever since today the shell damage and propaganda are kit tourist attractions but for residents like Maestro woo war is still within living memory nice to see when you were a boy where were the bombs Landing how do you feel about the Chinese people what is their relationship to you at his Workshop Maestro woo makes knives from Old Shell cases and there's no shortage of material to work with over a million of these landed here it's a beautiful thing still warm like many people on kinman Maestro woo wants to keep the peace even if that means negotiating with China some people here they look at what happened in Ukraine and they see the ukrainians fighting the Russians and they say this would be the same for Taiwan and Taiwan should fight China if that were to happen what do you think of that what do you say to those people people who think your talk of political Solutions is naive and that China is an evil country that needs to be confronted across the water from kinman the bright lights of sham men may seem more photo opportunity than threat but looking at taipe Harbor on the main island taiwan's vulnerability is obvious the Taiwan Strait is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and taiwan's Lifeline China could seal off this island nation and force it to negotiate or [Music] surrender in a Suburban Tower block near the harbor I meet another prepper Charles Chi who's worried about a blockade hello hi Charles nice to see you morning thank you so this is home and this is all your supplies is it yeah so you got everything you need yeah this is my my supplies suit tonic head and the come gos this is my battery box C Charles is a captain in the Army he'd be part of taiwan's official military response but despite this he's preparing for the worst so this is not about fighting this is about surviving yeah yeah that's that's that's a point the job of the government yeah is to look after the people yeah but you're saying no you must look after yourself when the uh did or Warfare the government will will shut down civil breakdown yeah civil breakdown B there is so much kit you can't ever forget it can you it's like you're living in a in a bunker yeah that's the that's the prepare you know yeah I I I want and I like it Taiwan only has to look to Hong Kong to see what what China can do to its democracy Beijing promised to respect one country two systems there but ended up suppressing Free Speech violently cracking down on protests imprisoning pro-democracy activists and squashing the Umbrella Revolution most of this is that we stand with Hong Kong and for Freedom Fight For Freedom Joe has taken me to see Tai Chung's lenon wall covered in messages of support for Hong Kong and Ukraine this kind of expression of free speech would be banned in China hi Casey hi how you doing I'm okay nice to meet you ni meet you Casey is a hong konger an artist and activist you were in the protest this week yeah yeah yeah as a matter of fact I find a poster of me really in yeah where over there Casey met Joe at her training group that's me right there yeah he's now living in Taiwan in self-declared Exile the red giant is coming we got to be United and fight against this big [Music] adversary but isn't isn't the fact that you're here yes the proof that you can't fight yes true you know that the the giant is much much bigger the people of Hong Kong didn't have the Army we didn't have guns we didn't have tanks and missile and high marks and America but we still rise million and two millions of us with our bare body so it's not about winning it's about how to fall down gracefully so that other city states nearby can wake up but do do you feel that Taiwan could win in a fight if we are we are uh together enough we are get together enough Taiwan people even we are not win but we are not lose that sounds really good not losing yeah because I think sometimes it's not about winning or losing it's about the process for the fight of freedom and democracy right yeah and if we don't stand up for our country we cannot help other country to help us yeah so we have to stand up at first Taiwan knows this is all about resisting China's might and one way to do that is to show that the population is prepared this weekend Joe has traveled up to the capital Taipei to observe a drill organized by an NGO called forward Alliance they've trained thousands of Civilian responders who can mobilize if there's a disaster ranging from a typhoon or earthquake to the biggest existential threat facing Taiwan war with China for Joe seeing training on this scale with hundreds of attendees and so well resourced is reassuring the race to prepare in Taiwan is as much about technology as it is about Manpower I'm meeting a toy maker that's helping to develop kit for the Army it looks like a toy and that's the point this was a famous toy company Once Upon a Time making remote control cars but Taiwan has looked at Ukraine and realized that these sorts of things could be crucial for defense this surveillance drone has advanced AI it can lock on and track moving targets like this high-speed train drones are a key tool in asymmetrical Warfare but the problem is Taiwan has just hundreds of them compared to China's tens of thousands the government has asked Thunder Tiger and other commercial companies to join its National drone team and develop models for the military do you think Taiwan one can keep up technologically I believe so Taiwan be making the most advanced commercial chips for all the industry worldwide but uh now the chese government and chese Company and tese people are aware that they should do uh something forsel to protect themselves you're going to need a lot of these yes yes we need not our government should not only purchase 3,000 they should purch is 30,000 for you is this just a commercial decision um to make money for your shareholders or is this about National Defense from our childhood we've been loving flying uh these airplanes and drums and helicopters so it's a fantastic a dream job for us we can make money for ourself and we can also make something which is Meaningful to our country on every level of Taiwanese Society there are people gearing up for war and at the country's largest defense Expo it all looks very slick taiwan's biggest military suppliers are here at this Expo but there's something else going on which is the prepper culture of replica weapons and civil militia the lines between these two worlds are really starting to blur taiwan's military has been accused of being on the back foot with too few soldiers and weapons and an insufficient conscription program but does it really need the prepper help to beat China's Army the pla I've come to the country's main defense Think Tank to ask Dr Shen hello chrishan gy hello thank you very much indeed for having us if you compare numbers yeah how can Taiwan ever defeat the Chinese Army okay you can see yeah P had 2 million but how many T he can use in Taiwan stength I think maybe 300,000 or 400,000 we can use urban Warfare and maybe big city Warfare you seem very certain yeah that military action is coming yeah is is this what the Taiwanese military establishment thinks uh yes but Joe Biden has said he will not allow it yeah yeah we know that United State will intervene Taiwan straight conflict but we don't know which way or which model maybe the model like Ukraine but between Ukraine and United States they don't have a the So-Cal like Taiwan relation act so the truth is that Taiwan is relying on the United States of course right now yeah so what do you think of the the Preppers yeah the civilians yes who are preparing for war if people choose to stay in Taiwan it mean that they want to prepare or want to defend their own Prosperity their life and their country it's useful if people we fighting very high yeah any weapon system can use they were used China may see Taiwan as its own Province to be reclaimed but Taiwan has enjoyed years of democratic freedoms and won't give them up easily what Preppers like Joe fear losing is quite hard to Define precisely but you get a sense of it if you come here to one of taiwan's famous night markets it's really relaxed Joe and her wife can come here and they don't feel watched they can do what they want they can say what they want want and it's that freedom they want to hold on to China's lack of marriage equality is one obvious threat to Joe why do you love your country people in here is uh they can be free insult in lifestyle even in art but in China they have to whatever happens to Taiwan in the future whether it's one country two systems whether it's a Chinese takeover what will your identity be still Taiwanese even even Wars happen even it's one country to system I'm still Taiwanese Taiwan has long hoped to avoid war with China by treading carefully but as Beijing gets Bolder so too do the Preppers this island nation is gaining the confidence to push back [Music] back

Channel: Unreported World

Views: 751,927

Keywords: Unreported world, Taiwan, prepper, China, invasion, war, island, Taiwanese, Taiwan Strait, warfare, urban warfare, emergency, military, Kinmen Island, prepper nation, Beijing, PLA, defence, prepping, documentary, Unreported World Documentary

Id: TyadJ6Ky3WU

Length: 23min 41sec (1421 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 12 2023