◎ Wang Pinhan
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Taiwan is filled with an atmosphere of homecoming reunions and holiday gatherings. However, while most people are enjoying reunions under the moonlight and spending the holidays with relatives and friends, the military officers and soldiers of the People's Republic of China performing combat readiness missions in the sea and airspace surrounding Taiwan must maintain a high degree of alert and respond to possible emergencies at any time.
September 24 was the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, and high-speed rail stations were crowded with tourists returning home for the holiday. The picture shows Nangang Station. (File photo) In recent years, the People’s Liberation Army of the Communist Party of China has continued to conduct joint sea and air combat readiness patrols and various military activities around Taiwan. These operations often overlap with Taiwan’s political, diplomatic or important nodes. For Taiwan, what really needs to be faced is not just a single military operation itself, but how this gradually normalized military pressure affects the pace of national military combat readiness and Taiwanese society's psychological feelings about the security environment.
Festivals are especially special.
When society enters a holiday, government agencies, transportation, medical and various public services must still maintain basic operations, and the national military is even less likely to lower its alert because of the holiday. For frontline officers and soldiers, the Mid-Autumn Festival may be just a festival on the calendar, but it may not represent a real moment of rest.
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This is another test that the national army must face: how to maintain combat readiness in a long-term, high-pressure security environment without being dictated by its opponents.
Regardless of the specific intentions of military operations across the Taiwan Strait, long-term and repeated naval and air activities may put continuous psychological and resource pressure on Taiwan. For the national army, it must turn emergencies into manageable risks through institutionalized combat readiness procedures, intelligence surveillance and troop dispatch; for society, it must avoid unnecessary panic caused by every military development.
Information from the Chinese military shows that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, five Communist main fighter aircraft intruded into our western airspace, and one of them crossed the center line and entered our northern airspace. (Provided by the Ministry of National Defense) This is where “strategic focus” is truly important.
PLA officers and soldiers perform tasks at radar stations, missile sites, warships and various combat positions. What is being verified is not just the performance of a single weapon or unit, but the ability of the entire national defense system to quickly switch between peacetime and crisis. From intelligence collection, command and communication, to troop dispatch and logistics, every link must be able to maintain normal operations under pressure.
And these things often don’t appear in ordinary people’s Mid-Autumn Festival reunion photos.
When the public is enjoying the holidays, some people still have to stay at their posts; when most people can turn off work notifications and spend time with their families, frontline officers and soldiers must maintain communication and vigilance. These seemingly ordinary perseverances are an important prerequisite for the country to maintain normal life.
But the other half of the National Defense Force is also at the rear.
If society falls into panic every time military developments occur in the Taiwan Strait, or if society gradually becomes numb due to long-term vigilance, this will not be an ideal situation for Taiwan. Truly mature social resilience does not mean being indifferent to threats, but the ability to understand threats, identify information, maintain daily life, and support necessary defense preparations.
Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a time to express gratitude to the Chinese military, but also reminds us that Taiwan’s security has never been the sole responsibility of the frontline troops.
The national army needs to continue to maintain combat readiness, the government needs to improve crisis response and social resilience, and the media and society need to avoid amplifying every military development into panic. Only by maintaining vigilance at the front and maintaining order at the rear can the entire society be less affected by external pressure.
Under the moonlight, the national army is guarding the homeland and security; and what we can do is to prevent our lives from losing pace due to threats.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a time to express gratitude to the Chinese military, but also reminds us that Taiwan’s security has never been the sole responsibility of the frontline troops. (File photo) [Conclusion]
True strategic concentration does not mean not seeing threats, but knowing what to do, what to believe, and how to continue daily life after seeing threats. This Mid-Autumn Festival, when we reunite with our families, don’t forget that some people are still celebrating the festival at their jobs. That perseverance without noise is one of the important foundations for Taiwan to be able to maintain normal life.
(The author is a college student)
