If War Comes Tomorrow: Serving in Dongyin as a Private

Book Description

“Sir, I want to learn hand-to-hand combat!”

“Do you really think war will never happen? When you are stationed on Dongyin Island and enemy warships remain on standby in nearby waters; when you carry a loaded rifle for days in full combat gear…”

“Imagine this: the People’s Liberation Army could launch an attack and seize Dongyin within hours. We are on the frontline—before the navy, before the air force—the first battle before any landing on Taiwan itself.”

As tensions across the Taiwan Strait draw global attention, a Taiwanese boy born during the year of Taiwan’s first direct presidential election and the Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis finds himself drafted to the frontline island of Dongyin in Matsu. Having participated in solidarity actions for Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Movement and protests against Chinese political influence in Taiwan, he records his four months of compulsory military service in a sharp, reflective, and darkly humorous memoir of military life in twenty-first-century Taiwan.

More than a contemporary version of military stories such as Report to the Squad Leader or Military Diaries, this book goes beyond barracks anecdotes and everyday routines. Author Chiang Min-yen instead focuses on critically examining Taiwan’s current compulsory military training system. Writing from the perspective of a conscript deeply concerned about both national security and society, he offers observations, analysis, and possible directions for reform.

The title, If War Comes Tomorrow, captures the book’s central question:

“If war comes tomorrow, will those of us trained through compulsory service truly be prepared?”

Author : Chiang Min-yen

Chiang Min-yen holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from National Tsing Hua University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from The University of Hong Kong.

After graduating, he worked with the Taiwan Economic Democracy Union, focusing on resisting Chinese political influence and strengthening democratic solidarity in Taiwan. During Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Movement, he actively organized solidarity actions in Taiwan and later helped exiled Hong Kong activists establish the publication Flow HK (Ru Shui), contributing to democratic discourse within the Hong Kong diaspora community.

He currently researches semiconductor policy and serves as an overseas researcher at the Center for Technology, Democracy and Society