Premier Chen Chien-jen ( 陳建仁) said that more review is needed before any revisions to the All-out Defense Mobilization Readiness Act are finalized. Chen was addressing concerns about the mobilization of high school students and limitations of press freedoms during war time.
Chen said that the current act is outdated and needed to be revised to meet the needs of the current situation. Chen said that the defense ministry will listen to voices from various sectors in society before changes are made.
Regarding concerns that high school students would be mobilized to fight during wartime, education minister Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) definitively said they would not. The defense ministry recently said that students would only play supporting roles in disaster relief and civil defense in case of an invasion.
According to the proposed amendments, media organizations would need to cooperate with government controls in an effort to prevent the spread of “disinformation”. This has raised concerns about freedoms of speech and of the press.
The draft revisions to the All-out Defense Mobilization Readiness Act were proposed by the Ministry of National Defense on Feb. 21. The proposals must be approved by the Cabinet and the Legislature before they can take effect.