第二類組 (Type 2)

"Hurry up, they've already started drawing straws!"

Another day at the Shilin District Office. Another step in the process of getting drafted. The 10th floor auditorium of the district office is packed with thongs of young men and their anxious looking parents. The middle aged ladies running the Department of Compulsory Military Service who were at the medical exam weeks ago are all there again. But for the first time, I see military personnel manning the check-in desk - an army lieutenant colonel along with a bunch of NCOs, and a couple of MPs.

Like anyone would try to make a break for it at this stage.

Taiwan has had a military draft going since the 1950s, back when the Cold War was still hot. Today, China's invasion threats have gone from the human waves of yesteryear to a ballistic missile buildup, while Taiwan has gone from dictatorship to democracy. One problem hasn't changed though - how do you distribute all the draftees fairly among the service branches? Lots of people want to get into the air force (considered an easy assignment), and few want to end up in the marines (at one point, marine boot camp graduation involved swimming from Kinmen to China and returning with a severed PLA ear... or so the rumor mill goes).

The solution that was settled upon has become a rite of passage for Taiwanese males - drawing straws. Even with the introduction of civilian alternative service for folks who can't pass the physical, the practice still continues. Everyone gets a service branch, no one can complain about favoritism. This year, the ratio for the general pool is fairly typical: 75% Army, 8% Navy, 8% Marines, and 9% Air Force.

"But, I was told to come in at 11AM."

"Are you doing alternative service?"

"No, I'm classified as Type 2."

But as you might expect, the military in Taiwan has its own needs in terms of personnel qualifications. In the U.S., incoming enlisted personnel take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exam to determine their level of competency. Taiwan deals with this problem by loading the dice for draftees with certain qualifications...

There are three separate pools as far as drawing straws is concerned. Type 1 is the maritime group (100% Navy), Type 2 is the aviation group (70% Air Force, 20% Army, 10% Navy), Type 3 is the general pool. Draftees are distributed by occupation or college degree: merchant seamen, maritime academy graduates, maritime engineers, and oceanographers go under Type 1. Type 2 includes commercial pilots, aviation mechanics, aerospace and aeronautical engineers, atmospheric and space scientists, meteorologists, and plasma physicists. Everyone else is Type 3.

"Oh, there are only 4 of you this time. Have a seat and we'll call you once the general pool is done."

I walk into the auditorium where the process is playing out for the general pool. The middle aged ladies of the district office sit at a long table at the front. A large clear plastic box sits in the middle of the table with a hole in the top. A draftee thrusts his hand into the box, pulls out a straw, and hands it to a lady with a microphone behind the box.

"Number 141, Army."

The young man is silent as the straw is removed from the remaining pool, and the next draftee moves up for his turn. There are 141 Army straws out of the 188 total for the general pool today.

"Number 142, Army."

"Number 143, Army."

"Number 144, Marines"

The marine-to-be grimaces, while a palpable sense of relief spreads throughout the line of draftees behind him. One less Marine straw.

A middle aged lady walks over after overhearing my earlier conversation:

"What's this Type 2 thing you said you were in?"

"Oh, the aviation group."

"Wait, so you're all Air Force? How did you get into that?"

"No no no... we just have a higher chance of drawing an Air Force straw. I studied aerospace engineering so-"

"My son studied accounting, why isn't he in this?"

"Well they should already know his degree-"

"Wait what? I didn't know about this. I told them he studied accounting..."

I had a thing for space and aviation as a kid, like most kids do. Unlike most kids, I never grew out of it and choose to study astrophysics in college (instead of pre-med or computer science), and aerospace engineering in grad school. The typical reaction I got from people in Taiwan upon learning of this was "Aerospace engineering? Who needs that in Taiwan?". Guess I've got the answer to that now...

"Type 2 draftees, report!"

A middle aged man with greying hair takes the mike at the front - the supervisor. The 188 draftees in the general pool are finally done. My turn now, along with the two other draftees in the group who actually showed up.

The supervisor gathers us around the box.

"Congratulations, you are all in the aviation group. No matter which service branch you end up drawing, your work will be related to aircraft!"

The three of us stare at each other, uncertain what to say. I've heard of Air Force draftees who ended up in air defense units, which were characterized as "the Army, but with surface to air missiles."

The supervisor opens a sealed brown envelope, containing three smaller sealed brown envelopes. He tears open the envelopes one by one to reveal identical looking small plastic tubes, each containing a rolled up piece of paper. The straws. He counts them out by service branch: 7 Air Force, 2 Army, 1 Navy. He hands me the microphone and points to the label on the big envelope:

"Read this please to confirm the contents are correct."

I pick up the microphone and hope my Taiwan accent is back...

"7 Air Force, 2 Army, 1 Navy."

"Sign your name and ID number on the envelope please, then have a seat."

He places the straws in the box, shakes up the contents, and hands the mike off to one of the ladies, who calls out our names and numbers, one by one. I'm last in line. The first guy draws Air Force. The second guy draws Navy.

I walk up and hand over my registration form and ID, and thrust my hand into the box. I hand the straw to the lady with the mike, who pulls the paper out of the tube...

"Number 4, Air Force."

The lady writes my name on the slip, stamps it with my seal, then hands me the receipt.

"Congratulations. We'll notify you 10 days before the start of basic training with further instructions."

The army guys at the check-in desk are gone now. The father of one of the other airmen-to-be walks over.

"Don't worry about it, it'll be a good experience. Say, where are you from?"

"Jiantan."

"Jiantan? Interesting. You look so tall that I almost thought you were a foreigner."

"Oh. Heh. Well, you know us kids these days."

"Yes, I would have taken you for American-born, except that you haven't done anything with your hair."

"Next". *stamp*

"I've finished my studies in the U.S. and just returned the other day-"

"Ah? Please speak to the lady in the next window, she specializes in such cases. Please pardon the inconvenience."

For being what is probably the most dreaded section of the Shilin (士林) District Office, the civil servants at Department of Compulsory Military Service (兵役課) are unfailingly polite. Probably comes from being yelled at a lot by angry parents waving foreign passports. That and Shilin being the epicenter of expat residents in Taipei, what with the Taipei American School, the Tianmu neighborhood and all...

"Yes? How may I help you?"

The lady stares at me over a pile of what looks like files on all the other draft age males from Taipei's north side. Future comrades. Or whatever the preferred term is today. I take a deep breath and hope that 24 hours has been sufficient time for the American accent in my Mandarin to dissipate (remember... non-rhoticity! Just like Boston).

"Hi! I just finished school in the U.S. and arrived back in the country yesterday. I haven't been drafted yet and I'd like to report in to get the ball rolling-"

"- He wants to know how long he has before basic training since he has a job now."

Standing behind me, my mother can't help but interject even after promising me that she'd let me handle things on her own. I survived on my own abroad for the last 12 years but apparently old habits die hard. (Must get used to Taiwan family values again... the Italians are mama's boys and thrive just as well...)

"May I see your I.D. and any diplomas validated by our diplomatic personnel?"

I hand over my I.D. and a plastic folder containing photocopies of documents with TECO validation seals that cost me $30 apiece for the original documents and $15 apiece for Chinese translations that I had to do myself. Thank you Ministry of Foreign Affairs...

The lady taps a few things on her keyboard, gets up, then returns with a folder with my name on it.

"Engineering degree... current I.D. number checks out... wait a minute-" (Ha... another kid who finally ran out of education deferments)

She flips over to the backside of my Taiwan I.D. and frowns.

"Place of Birth: United States. Doesn't this make you an American?"

"Well yes, but my family moved here when I was a kid and had me naturalized to make the immigration paperwork easier and I was under the impression that I'm still required to serve..."

She stares. The unspoken "Sure we don't let you relinquish your citizenship till you've served but shouldn't you have just entered on your American passport and pretended you had ex-pat status so you'd be exempt from this? Everybody does it."- seems to hang in the air. It only lasts a few seconds.

"Read and sign this please." (you can read right?)

She whips out a legal statement.

"I _________ affirm that I am a dual citizen of the Republic of China and __________ . I do not claim and have no intention of claiming expatriate status and understand that I am subject to military conscription as a military age male."

I sign, wondering if she isn't planning to send me to the psych ward at NTU.

"You'll hear from us in a few weeks for your physical at Yang-Ming Hospital. If everything checks out, you'll come back to draw straws to decide your service branch, and can expect to ship out sometime in late March or early April."

A few weeks later a notice comes in the mail to pick up the physical exam forms at the District Office. "Please report to the specified hospital at the specified date and time along with two 1" photos, your I.D., a ballpoint pen, and this form."

Yang-Ming Hospital is a large building covered with pink bathroom tile in a nice neighborhood in Tianmu. I arrive on an overcast afternoon of the sort that characterizes Taipei in the winter.

The physical exam center is a separate building located to the rear of the main hospital building. I am surprised by the complete lack of military personnel. The check-in desks are staffed by middle aged women who might as well have been the mothers of all the young men milling around. The doctors are all civilians normally attached to the hospital. If it wasn't for the large number of young men from all around the north side of Taipei walking around accompanied by anxious parents, it would probably be another ordinary working day. One of the doctors chats loudly with his colleagues:

"... and what do you mean healthy? How many of these kids do you think are going to whip out medical files claiming missing limbs, allergies, and esoteric diseases they found on PubMed? How many of the rest are going to whip out foreign passports, here on the north side? And can you blame them when even the president's daughter hides behind an American passport? In my day if you had flat feet they'd tell you to stuff tissue on the soles of your shoes..."

As if on cue, several of the examinees gestured frantically at the middle aged lady overseeing the check-ins... "Excuse me, I'm not sure why I was told to come here, I have a foreign passport and lived abroad...". Interestingly, after the former (fluent Chinese-speaking) group had departed, quite a few other individuals of mixed ethnicity were still standing around with the rest of us. So much for blood thicker than water.

At the check-in desk, I'm handed a four page questionnaire. "Are you feeling healthy and well today?" "Have you been depressed lately?" "Are you angry at your parents?" "Do you have a driver's license?" After answering to what I suppose was the satisfaction of the proctor, I'm handed a physical exam form, my background file from the District Office, and a black tote bag containing a pair of gym shorts and plastic flip flops.

After changing, I was led with the other examinees into a wing with several rooms, each containing nurses and doctors to perform a particular examination. At the end of each examination, the responsible doctor would write the results on the exam form, and stamp the particular section. Everything was systematic and assembly line-like with draftees lined up quietly at each station. There was little talk amongst the draftees as we wound our way from station to station. Blood pressure, dental, EKG, height and weight, vision, blood, urine, chest X-ray...

Some tests were simple. Hearing:

"Do you have hearing problems?"

"No."

"Next." *stamp*

Psych:

"Have you ever felt like killing yourself?"

"No."

"Have you ever seen a psychologist before?"

"I'm talking to one right now."

"Next." *stamp*

Finally, the part you always hear about. I find myself standing before a panel of one female and two male urologists in lab coats, wearing surgical masks. A screen bisects the room, ending right before the doctors so that they can see behind it. The other draftees in line behind me look on. One of the male doctors slips on a pair of latex gloves and comes in for a closer hands on examination.

"Please step behind the screen and drop your pants."

Despite spending the last six years studying in the town that gave birth to the Naked Pumpkin Run, I really don't find the lack of clothing to be a liberating experience in this sort of setting.

Satisfied that I do indeed possess functioning male genitalia, the doctor nods and tells me to pull my pants back up and moves on to the next question on the list...

"Now, have you ever had a hernia?"

"No."

"Next." *stamp*

The entire exam takes about half an hour, after which I find myself in front of the check-out desk, again staffed by middle aged ladies who might have been my friends' mothers.

"There's nothing immediately disqualifying, so we're just waiting on the blood and urine results. You'll hear from us again in about a month. Go out and have fun."

Continued on Part II: 第二類組 (Type 2)

Translated Action Statement from the "Wild Strawberry Movement"

The student movement to revise the Assembly and Parade Law has been formally renamed the "Wild Strawberry Movement", a reference to both the "Wild Lily Student Movement" of 1990 (demanding democratic reforms to provide for the direct election of the president and all legislators), as well as the popular term for the generation born in the 1980s ("the strawberry generation" - stereotyped as self-absorbed, and weak).

The students have issued a formal statement, which I have translated below (again feel free to pass it around). The original statement can be found on the official site for the movement.

“野草莓運動”行動聲明
Action Statement from the "Wild Strawberry Movement"

運動緣起
我們是一群憂心臺灣混亂現況與未來發展的大學教授、學生、文化工作者和市民。我們看到了近日來警察不當執法、侵害言論自由，導致合法集會的民眾受傷等事件。我們驚覺事態嚴重 —這已經不是維安有否過當的技術問題、更不只是政黨認同選擇的問題，而是暴力化的國家公權，對市民社會的嚴重挑釁和侵犯。我們為此感到擔憂，因此從 11/06上午11點開始，聚集在行政院門口抗議。我們在11/07下午四點遭到警方驅離，我們現在改聚集在中正紀念堂，並發起長期抗戰。

Movement Origins
We are a group of university professors, students, cultural workers, and citizens who are concerned about Taiwan's current state of disorder and future development. Over the past few days, we have seen numerous instances of police overreaction and suppression, which have caused injury to citizens exercising their right to free speech. Through reports in the media, we have come to realize the seriousness of the current situation. It is no longer a technical question of excessive law enforcement tactics, nor is it simply a partisan issue between supporters of various political parties. This is a proliferation of state sponsored violence that is challenging and attacking civil society. Our concern over this state of affairs led us to peacefully protest at the gates of the Executive Yuan, beginning at 11AM on November 6. At 4PM on November 7, we were dispersed by the police. We have since regrouped at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall , where we plan to engage in a long term struggle.

反對警方執法過當、侵犯人權與集遊惡法
試舉出近日警方的不當行為：淨空高速公路車道。禁止民眾在公共場合舉國旗。禁止民眾在公共場所說「台灣不是中國的」。沒收人民財物，如旗幟、標語。民眾在圓山附近手持DV拍攝，卻被警方違反行政程序強行帶回警局。民眾想要施放印有「黑心」圖樣的氣球被警方制止。民眾騎機車懸掛支持西藏獨立的「雪山獅子旗」，卻被警方制止且強行帶回警局。上揚唱片行事件等。上述個案，警方以違反集會遊行法、社會秩序維護法、警察職權行使法為由對人民行使的強制行動，已經嚴重的侵犯憲法、民法等上位法規對於人民基本自由、財產權利的保障。

Oppose Police Overreaction and the Suppression of Human Rights by the Unconstitutional Assembly and Parade Law
Inappropriate acts taken by police in recent days include the following: Forcibly shutting down major highways. Prohibiting citizens from waving the national flag in public. Prohibiting citizens from stating that "Taiwan does not belong to China" in public. Confiscating the personal property of citizens, such as flags and signs with slogans. Forcibly detaining citizens filming areas near the Grand Hotel with handheld camcorders, without following due process. Preventing citizens from flying balloons protesting toxic Chinese food products. Forcibly detaining citizens on a moped carrying a Tibetan flag. Ordering the closure of a music store playing Taiwanese music. The police have tried to justify these repressive actions by claiming violations of the Assembly and Parade Law, the Social Order Maintenance Law, and invoking the Regulations on Police Duties, while ignoring the fact that their actions are in violation of the Constitution, Civil Law, and other higher level laws guaranteeing the peoples' free speech and property rights.

言論與人身自由的重要性
我們深信自由的重要。試想，假使當年政府動員警力驅散凱達格蘭夜市、驅散紅衫軍，那麼台灣的公民就沒有機會聽取社會上不同的意見；正是因為他們沒有被驅散，不同的聲音才得以被聽見。人只有曝露在各種不同的意見中，才能學習判斷意見的優劣，這是公民社會不可或缺的條件，也說明了言論自由為甚麼可貴。

On the Importance of Personal Freedom
We believe in the importance of freedom. Imagine for a moment what would have resulted had the government ordered the police to crack down on the 2007 Red Shirt demonstration in front of the Presidential Office. The citizens of Taiwan would not have had the opportunity to listen to other opinions. It was only because they were not dispersed that different voices could be heard. Only by being exposed to numerous different viewpoints, can we learn how to determine for ourselves the quality of different opinions. This is an essential requirement for a functioning civil society, and illustrates the importance of free speech.

正因自由如此可貴，憲法明文保障此項自由。位階較低的法律，應該輔助憲法，將之具體實現並定其界限。然而，威權時代、戒嚴時期遺留下來的集會遊行法，卻嚴重危害言論自由。它的許可制預設人民的集會遊行會違法；它的禁制區寬免政府機關於民意的挑戰；它授予警察過大的裁量權，竟使警察執法時越俎而代法官之庖。

It is because free speech is so important that its protection is enshrined in the Constitution. Other laws must support the Constitution, facilitating its execution and specifying its limits. Despite this, the Assembly and Parade Law - left over from the authoritarian days of martial law, gravely damages the right to free speech. By requiring protesting citizens to acquire a permit for a lawful demonstration, rather than simply notifying the government beforehand, it allows protests to be declared illegal before they even take place. Its excessive provisions for restricted areas off limits to protesters, allows governmental organs to insulate themselves from being challenged by public opinion. By granting the police excessive powers, it allows the police to take the place of judges in a court of law.

具體訴求
Concrete Demands

修改集會遊行法
因此，對於集會遊行法我們有以下幾點具體建議：(1)許可制改為報備制。政府不應事前審查，預設人民的集會遊行會違法；(2)檢討禁制區之規定。集會遊行是手無寸鐵、無權無勢者陳情抗議的方法，現行的禁制區規定卻不容人民挑戰行政機關；(3)規定警察執法的界線。避免警察無限上綱、恣意妄為；(4)取消刑罰，改採行政罰。就同樣的行為而言，集會遊行法規定的罰則比其他法律苛重，違反比例原則。

Amend the Assembly and Parade Law
We provide the following suggestions for revising the Assembly and Parade Law: (1) Change the current permit system to a notification system. The government has no right to examine the peoples' motivations beforehand, and declare unfavorable demonstrations to be illegal before they even take place; (2) Reexamine the current provisions for restricted areas. Demonstrations and marches allow unarmed citizens without any other means to make their grievances known and petition for redress. The current restricted areas do not allow the people to challenge governmental agencies; (3) Clarify permissible actions by the police in enforcing the law. Do not grant a blank check for the police to exercise whatever methods they see fit; (4) Make the new law an administrative law, rather then penal law. Compared to other laws, the current Assembly and Parade Law calls for heavier punishment for the same illegal actions, violating the principle of proportionality.

處分失職警務人員
有關近日人民與警察的衝突頻傳，我們感到相當心痛。也有人質問我們為什麼不站出來譴責群眾暴力。對此，我們做出以下的回應：我們堅決守護、支持人民表達意見的權利，也堅決反對任何暴力的手段，不論暴力行為來自於人民或者警方。我們從近日發生的許多事件看到，人民的暴力可以由法律來規範，警政單位的公權力卻可能濫用，並擴張成無所節制的暴力，沒有受到應有的約束。因此，我們譴責政府與警方擴大解釋法律、不當使用暴力的手段來壓制人民合法表達意見的自由；調查處分相關失職警務人員；警務、國安長官必須下台負責。

Punish Police Personnel Engaging in Inappropriate Behavior
The recent clashes between the people and the police have left us with a great sense of sorrow. We have been asked why we have not stood out to condemn violent mob behavior. To this, we provide the following response: We are determined to protect and support the people in freely expressing their opinions, and condemn any and all acts of violence, be they from the people or the police. From the many events of the past few days, we have seen that while violent acts on the part of the people can be regulated by law, law enforcement agencies can also abuse their power to justify unlimited brutality without any appropriate restriction or regulation. It is because of this that we condemn the government and the police for increasingly ignoring the law, and for inappropriate use of force to violently suppress the rights of the people to freely express their views. We request that a full investigation be carried out to identify police officers who abused their authority, and that appropriate punitive measures be taken. Additionally, the directors of the police and national security agencies who are ultimately responsible must step down.

馬英九總統道歉
警察執行強制行為時代表的是國家暴力，國家暴力的使用必須以維護人民生命、自由、財產權利為最高優先，不可不慎。但警察單位終究只是執行命令的機器，政府以及執政黨的立場和命令，直接影響一線員警如何執行勤務。我們譴責馬英九政府踐踏我國民主自由的基本立國精神，必須道歉。

President Ma must Apologize
The use of force by police is a symbol of state sponsored violence, and should only be used when absolutely necessary to safeguard the rights of the people to life, liberty, and property. Its use should never be employed without the utmost care. However, police agencies are only passive mechanisms that execute the orders issued to them. The positions and directives of the government, as well as the ruling party, will directly impact how rank and file police officers go about their duties. We condemn the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou for trampling on the spirit of freedom and democracy that are fundamental to the foundation of our nation, and demand that he apologize.

發起公民不服從運動
我們是以學生為主體發起的公民不服從運動。當政府依照違憲的集遊法行使法律或者不當解釋法律時，後續的公權力行使是缺乏正當性的，對於缺乏正當性的公權力，公民有不服從的權利。我們希望所有認同我們訴求的公民、市民來一起參與這場運動，共同要求「馬英九總統和行政院長劉兆玄必須公開向國人道歉。」「警政署長王卓鈞、國安局長蔡朝明，應立刻下臺。」「立法院立即修改限縮人民權利的『集會遊行法』」。

Creating a movement of Civil DisobedienceWe are a movement of civil disobedience initiated by students, and with students as our core. When the government invokes the unconstitutional Assembly and Parade Law, or abuses lawful governmental authority, subsequent governmental actions are illegitimate. The people have a right to refuse to obey illegitimate governmental actions. We hope that all people who agree with our statement will join us in this movement to demand that President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan apologize to all citizens; that National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun and National Security Bureau Director Tsai Chao-ming step down; and that the Legislative Yuan immediately amend the Assembly and Parade Law so that it does not threaten the rights of the people.

Tags: [Taiwan], [Protest], [野草莓].