Taiwan Today

Women in uniform are not new in Chinese history. Nearly 2,000 years ago, in an era when woman's place was in the home almost everywhere, Hwa Mu-lan joined the army. She did so in disguise, of course. Her father had no son, and so was called to serve the country despite his advanced age. Hwa Mu-lan took his place and ultimately became a general.

Since the Revolution of 1911, woman has been emancipated. She joined her men­-folk in the fight for freedom against the war­lords, and in the resistance to Japanese ag­gression. Today she serves throughout the armed forces of the Republic of China. Num­bers exceed 4,000, a fourth in the Women's Army Corps, the rest as political officers or in other roles with various military organizations. The uniform may be different, but the spirit is still that of Hwa Mu-lan.

WACs are largely concerned with raising the morale of the three armed services: army, navy, and air force. They help conduct edu­cational activities and recreation programs. Among specific assignments are the teaching of Mandarin to Taiwan-born servicemen, lectures on current events, and discussion of the enemy's situation. They teach songs and dances, cheer the wounded and the ill, organize birthday parties, and otherwise try to make military life more pleasant.

The WAC battalion consists of five com­panies attached to field units on a four-month rotation basis. Such service has taken women soldiers to the embattled offshore islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu, which are often under fire, and to the Penghus (Pescadores). Headquarters are in Taipei.

Training period is four months, after which the young women are graduated from a special class at the Political Staff College as second lieutenants. Minimum period of service is two years, and WACs have the same rights and privileges as other members of the armed forces.

A high school diploma or equivalent is required of volunteers. The number seeking careers in the WAC is almost always higher than the corps' vacancies. Morale is extremely high and disciplinary problems almost unknown. Corps members are proud of their colorful, attractive uniform of their marching skill. Applause is always deafening when the WAC passes the renewing stand in the Double Tenth National Day military parades.

Activated on Mainland

Activation of the WAC took place on the mainland in the spring of 1949. That was as a time when the continental struggle with Communism had reached a climax, and the first members were to display coolness both under fire and political pressure. More than 300 secondary and college students made up the original corps. They came from many provinces, and their age range was 17 to 22.

Evacuation from Shanghai to Taiwan meant heartbreak for many of the newly en­rolled WACs. Most had to leave parents be­hind. Fathers and mothers often tried to dissuade their daughters from leaving, and some came to the dock in a continuing attempt to keep families intact.

Lt. Col. Lee Kun-tao, then a platoon leader and now the commander of the WAC, tells how parents tried to hold the girls by their overcoats.

"Some left their coats in the hands of their parents," she said, "but the daughter move it to Taiwan to continue the fight against Communism."

Of the 308 who came, seven are still in the WAC. Most of the rest resigned for marriage and a family. However, marriage is permissible for those who want to combine it military career. Lt. Col. Lee, who is now 41, has three sons, the oldest in college.

The WACs were sent to Pingtung upon their Taiwan arrival. Foe six months they received regular recruit training. Another 15 months was devoted to special course that in effect laid down the shape of WAC activities for the years to follow. They learned how to be competent soliders, and also how to serve as nurses, teachers, and guardians of morale. Six operational teams were established at the conclusion of the training period. The WAC battalion itself was organized in 1959, and since has trained more than 2,000 young women.

In a sense the training period is con­tinuous, because of the varied assignments that fall to the lot of the WACs. When a four-month period of service expires, the girls get a 10-day furlough to visit family and friends. Then follows two months of further training for the specifics of the next job.

Many Inducements

For Taiwan, where salaries are low, the WAC offers its members many inducements. Girls receive their lodging, food, uniforms, travel, and most personal necessities, includ­ing cosmetics. Basic pay starts at US$10 a month and increases by small annual increments—but allowances also may be made for dependent family members.

Preferred service is on the offshore is­lands, where the WAC is closest to the enemy—and where risks also are the greatest. In addition to educational and morale work, the girls work as announcers for the radio station and for the public address system that reaches to the Communist forces, who are less than two miles away at the closest point. On Tai­wan, hours are regular, 8 to noon and 2 to 6, but for Kinmen and Matsu the girls work much longer, often into the night. They are subject to combat alert at all times.

WACs were present on Kinmen during the Communists' saturation shelling in the late summer of 1958. They conducted themselves with significant courage and won many decorations. In fact, since its establishment the battalion has accumulated four Kwang Hwa medals, 13 Kan Cheng decorations, six Luh Kwang awards, 12 Orders of Loyalty and Diligence, and two Political Brilliance medals.

Four members of the WAC have been sent to the United States for advanced training. One is Major Jane C. Hu, who attended the U.S. Women's Army Corps school in Alabama in 1961. Now 31, she is a native of Hupei and was graduated from the Political Staff College in 1953. As a journalism major, she went to the Penghus as a war correspondent, then taught at the Political Staff College until 1958. She attended the Officers' Lan­guage School for 18 months, served as an interpreter, and became deputy commander of the WAC in 1961. She agrees with Lt. Col. Lee that marriage and military command can be combined, and has a 10-month-old daughter to prove it.

Emphasis on Sports

Recreation—especially sports—are important in the life of a WAC. She is thus enabled to provide leadership in the organiza­tion of service sports, ranging from softball to basketball, and she acquires the dexterity for both modern and classical dancing. Excur­sions are conducted frequently. Swimming is encouraged.

The WAC esprit de corps is such that the girls usually enjoy their leisure time together, rather than going their separate ways. This is especially true of the newcomers. Marriage is not permissible for the first two years after commissioning, and dating therefore is not as frequent as it may become when the girl has attained marriage eligibility.

A basketball team was organized in November of 1962, and already is achieving renown. It plays men's service teams on a "we-ask-no-favors" basis, and has scored some remarkable upsets, including one over the Officers' Language School. The team takes its name from the redoubtable woman general, Hwa Mu-lan, and has managed to recruit the WAC's tallest timber-toppers. Two coaches are helping, Ho Chien-ping, one of Taiwan's best, and Miss Gertrude Su, an able and experienced player.

Heroines of Kinmen

Captain of the 14 basketball players is Lt. Chen Hsueh-mei, 24-year-old native of Taiwan, who joined the WAC in 1957 and who is an acting company commander. Lt. Chen, who has served on both Kinmen and Matsu, comes by her basketball skill naturally. Her WAC specialties are dancing, singing, and story-telling. Like her superiors, she hopes to marry but remain in the WAC. Her hope is for a military romance, so that her husband can share her interest and dedication in service to the country.

One of the heroines of the 1958 Kinmen bombardment is Lt. Chao Kuo-chin, 23, from Hopei, who received a Kan Cheng medal for her conduct under fire. Entering the WAC in 1957, she was assigned to the offshore islands—not the big island of Kinmen itself, but the tiny islet of Tatan, from where electronics amplified her pleasant voice so that the Com­munists could hear.

Shelling began August 23 and continued ceaselessly for the next 44 days. The average number of rounds was 10,000 a day for that period. Throughout the time of heaviest at­tack, Lt. Chao was in a shelter carved out of rock, broadcasting messages of freedom to the Communists. After the Reds had given up heavy attacks, and resorted to the odd-day shellings that still continue, she was recalled to Taiwan and toured the island to tell of the hot war raging on the offshore islands and to let the people see what the women warriors of today are like. She returned to Kinmen the following year.

"I was not afraid to go back," she said. "It is the duty that I like best—close to the enemy and in a position to convince those he has enslaved that they should choose free­dom."

Last year's WAC winner of the Political Examination Award was 24-year-old Capt. Kao Li-ping, who is from Fukien province just across the Taiwan Straits. She also is bent upon marriage, and is going "steady" with a colonel she met while serving on the offshore islands. Capt. Kao's parents are both teachers, and she has three brothers. An excellent singer and dancer, she entered the WAC when she was only 17.

Another veteran of the 1958 Battle of Kinmen is Lt. Chang Chiu-hsiang, who joined the service that year. She says that the ex­perience taught her the real meaning of love for one's fellow man. She saw many members of the armed forces wounded as they sought to help others who had been hit. Lt. Chang won the Political Brilliance medal in 1958, and now is teaching Mandarin to island-born servicemen. She is a basketball player, and expects to remain in the service after marriage.

The WAC will be parading with all its fire and polish this October Tenth. Because of Taiwan Straits tensions, no National Day parade was held last year, and the girls did not have a chance to show their military precision. This year is considered especially im­portant. The women warriors want to make an outstanding impression in order to win approval for the expansion of their corps, and also to emphasize the importance of the anti­-Communist cause that is their specialty.

China's WAC differs from that of the United States and some other countries in one important particular. Other corps do a great deal of secretarial-type work and thus release men for duties of a combat description. Counterparts in the Chinese WAC are rarely clerks or secretaries, although those sent to other units engage in a certain amount of administrative activity.

The Chinese military philosophy is that girls are too important to waste on bookkeep­ing and the like. Their presence with armed forces units means a higher level of morale and a bit of home, even when the Communist shells are thudding into the rocky terrain of Matsu or the paddy fields of Kinmen. Those who command the various military branches no longer have to be sold, either, on the use of women as political officers, enjoined with explaining the whys and wherefores of the fight against Communism. They have found that the WAC presentations are more down­-to-earth and convincing than the efforts of mere men.

As yet the Chinese WAC has not produced another Hwa Mu-lan. But who knows—the opportunity may not be far to seek. In the contemplated counteroffensive against the Communists, the members of the Women's Army Corps will be in the vanguard of the liberators—not only to give support to their own forces, but to tell women of the mainland about their role in the free and democratic China of tomorrow.