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經濟學人

原文連結
http://0rz.tw/ko5lE

小弟全文翻譯
http://mlkj24.pixnet.net/blog/post/28658772

歡迎轉載，不需告知


節錄一些段落

副標：一位義務役之死讓年輕人湧上街頭






=======最後一段這樣說========






Blooded
Aug 10th

OVER 100,000 Taiwanese protesters converged on the presidential office in
Taipei on August 3rd, accusing the defence ministry of cover-ups and calling
for justice. Their anger was triggered by the death of a young army
conscript. Last month Hung Chung-chiu, who was 24, died of heat stroke after
being placed in confinement for almost a week and forced to perform a harsh
regime of push-ups and jumping jacks in sweltering heat.

It was punishment for bringing a mobile phone with a camera on to the base,
an act which, with the island thought to be crawling with Chinese spies, is
deemed to be a security risk. Mr Hung, a graduate student from a leading
university, died days before his scheduled discharge. The inability of Taiwan
’s armed forces to provide answers afterwards, such as why
surveillance-camera footage of Mr Hung’s strenuous exercise regime was
missing, has created widespread outrage.

The protests took place despite 18 personnel being charged by army
prosecutors. A sergeant has been charged with abuse and faces life
imprisonment for forcing Mr Hung to perform “cruel” physical exercises that
went beyond “what the ordinary human body can endure”. Others were charged
with meting out an illegal punishment, since Mr Hung’s offence should have
earned merely a reprimand. But protesters insist that only the small fry have
been charged, and that high-ranking officers should take responsibility.
Whether they will is unclear.

The government has been caught off-balance. President Ma Ying-jeou and his
cabinet quickly agreed to protesters’ demands for a commission to
investigate miscarriages of justice in the armed forces. The furore helped
claim the scalps of two defence ministers in quick succession. Taiwan’s
parliament has also amended laws to transfer jurisdiction of most criminal
cases involving servicemen in peacetime to civilian courts. It is a milestone
of sorts for a young democracy. Taiwan was under martial law until 1987, and
it was military courts under the Nationalist (KMT) party that often went
after dissidents with charges of sedition. Many of those who were jailed are
now politicians in the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Questions remain about the future of Taiwan’s armed forces. Conscription,
which the KMT introduced in 1949, is due to end in 2015 as the army becomes
an all-volunteer force. In the days when the threat from China seemed
imminent, military service was viewed by Taiwanese as an honourable duty. But
now Mr Ma has instituted policies for closer business ties with China, and
the China threat appears to many to have diminished. Young Taiwanese men view
12 months’ military service as a nuisance and an obstacle to establishing
their careers. As a consequence, even before Mr Hung’s death, the army
struggled to get enough recruits. Now, his fate and the bullying that is
common in conscript armies may only deter Taiwanese all the more from joining
up voluntarily.

Taiwan’s plans to abolish conscription by 2015 come at a time of concerns
about defence spending’s dwindling share. Over the past couple of decades,
Taiwan’s military budget has fallen from 3.8% of GDP to 2.1% this year.
Taiwanese policymakers claim that it is therefore harder to pay for a
professional army (which, in the long run, is more cost-efficient than
conscription, however). Mr Ma has promised to raise defence spending but has
failed to do so, though China’s military build-up continues. Meanwhile the
DPP, which used to oppose conscription, has changed its mind.

As well as voicing concerns about the army, this week’s protests also had an
economic dimension. The demonstrators were mainly students and young
professionals. This generation has been hardest hit by Mr Ma’s failure to
keep his promises to boost Taiwan’s economy. Unemployment stands at about
20% for new graduates, compared with a little over 4% for the country as a
whole. The heckling Mr Ma received at Mr Hung’s funeral was not only because
of the conscript’s death.

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