By East Asia correspondent Kathleen Calderwood and West Matteeussen in Taiwan
(ABC Australia) When Taiwanese microchip mogul Robert Tsao announced his latest multi-million-dollar venture, he made a bold promise to safeguard his homeland and the future of civilisation.
Donning a bulletproof vest, the 76-year-old entrepreneur unveiled his plan to train 3.3 million “civilian warriors” to defend against a potential invasion.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sharpened its rhetoric in recent years and increased pressure on its self-governed neighbour, refusing to rule out the use of force to achieve so-called “reunification”.
“China will surely be reunified, and all Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping in his New Year address on Sunday.
So with increased military activity in the Taiwan Strait against the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine, many ordinary citizens are growing more wary of an escalation by China, and some are taking matters into their own hands.
In the 15 months since Mr Tsao’s pledge to bankroll training efforts at the Kuma Academy, the Taipei-based organisation has seen demand for its civil defence courses soar.
Organisers say the majority of participants are women and young parents who are worried about caring for their children in the event of an invasion or blockade.
“They don’t want their children to face warfare — they want to survive,” Kuma Academy co-founder Puma Shen said.
Daily life in Taiwan is perfectly normal and it Is generally considered impolite or unpopular to discuss the looming threat among friends.
Even those taking part in these courses can sometimes be reluctant to share the full extent of their concerns — but these everyday citizens are empowering themselves for an unknown future.
The billionaire backer
Tech tycoon Mr Tsao is the founder of United Microelectronics Corp, one of the largest producers of semiconductor chips in the world, but he has an unexpected history for someone throwing so much money at the war effort.
His family moved to Taiwan around the time Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) forces took control after World War II.
The Taiwan he grew up in was ruled under martial law by dictator Chiang Kai-shek, who led a brutal crackdown on his communist opponents over decades that are now known as the White Terror period.
“Later I realised the KMT was right about the Communist Party and how brutal and barbarous it is,” Mr Tsao told the Financial Times in 2022.
After finishing his studies at National Taiwan University, Mr Tsao joined the government’s Industrial Technology Research Institute, which gave rise to Taiwan’s booming semiconductor industry.
Mr Tsao founded his own company, UMC, in 1980, and expanded as China began to open up in the 1990s.
He began investing his riches in an impressive rare art collection, including a glass vase from the Qianlong period worth more than $39 million.
After Mr Tsao and a fellow UMC executive were indicted in Taiwan over alleged illegal investments to set up production lines in China, he renounced his Taiwanese citizenship and moved to Singapore.
He was an active supporter of so-called peaceful “reunification“, even taking out ads in major Taiwanese newspapers calling for a referendum on the matter.
But last year he reapplied for his Taiwanese citizenship, explaining that he had had a change of heart after witnessing Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong.
“It showed the true face of the Chinese Communist Party, a hooligan regime conducting violence against ordinary people,” he told the Taipei Times.
“It really made me angry. So I decided to never go to China, Hong Kong or Macau again.”
He told Radio Free Asia he wanted to die in Taiwan, ideally “laughing while watching the fall of the CCP”.
“The people of Taiwan need a morale boost … so I gave up my Singaporean citizenship and came back here to be with everyone,” he said.
“I had to come back; if I’m telling everyone to oppose the CCP, I can hardly skulk overseas myself.”
Funding a ‘civilian warrior’ force
Last September, Mr Tsao pledged 1 billion Taiwanese dollars ($50 million) to build a civilian warrior force through organisations including the Kuma Academy, with a portion set aside for 300,000 specialised marksmen.
He has also discussed plans to cooperate with the local industry to produce low-cost drones.
According to a US Defense Department report on China’s military developments, the People’s Liberation Army massively outnumbers Taiwan’s forces on every measure.
China has more than 2 million active personnel compared to Taiwan’s 170,000 troops, as well as five times as many tanks and six times as many fighter aircraft.