Debate: Compulsory Military Service for All? - YouthSpeak
Welcome to a special edition of YouthSpeak. In these two special episodes, we gathered some of the brightest debating talents in Taiwan to join us for a public forum to discuss two hot-button topics. Our host for these exciting debates is former high school debate champion, Kim Wang. The teams for these debates are the top performing schools from Taiwan’s National High School Debate Tournament in 2023. Since 2015, the National High School Debate Tournament has encouraged critical thinking, persuasive language and debate skills in English for high school students. In this second session, teams from The Affiliated Zhongli Senior High School of National Central University and Ming Der Senior High School went head-to-head in an intellectually stimulating debate on the topic of: “That Taiwan’s compulsory military training should include both men and women.” The Pro constructive speech began by contending that both men and women should serve in the military due to articles 7 and 20 of the constitution, that all citizens should be treated equally, and gender equality should be observed. The second contention is low birth rate, everyone should serve to meet the needs of military personnel numbers. Thirdly, urgency, it is contended by the Pro side that China could launch a full-scale invasion at any time, so everyone needs to serve to help protect against the threat. The Con side argued that the constitution needs to be changed to meet the needs of the times. Moreover, they argued that closer diplomatic ties to China to prevent wars from happening are more important than boosting the military. Alongside this, they contend that the military would be a burden with more conscripted soldiers, and it would be better to increase air force and navy that are voluntary forces. Thirdly, the Con side argued that there would be an increase in cases of sexual harassment. The Con side then introduced their plan to improve the military. The debate continued in classic debate style with crossfires, rebuttal speeches and conclusion speeches to round out the debate.
