Defense News

Ministry of National Media Reference Materials

Time: August 13^th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.

Explanation of the Armed Forces Day Activity Series

To celebrate the 2019 Republic of China “Armed Forces Day”, the Ministry of National Defense initiated its activity series beginning from August. During the press conference today, Lieutenant General Huang Kai-sen, director of Political Warfare Bureau, first explained the objectives for the Ministry of National Defense hosting the Armed Forces Day activity series, then Major General Lou Wei-jie, director of the Cultural and Psychological Warfare Section, explained the various activities, as well as introduced collaborating enterprises, and renowned internet illustrators, hosts, and team representatives who participated the activity series.

Major General Lou expressed that the Armed Forces Day this year will focus on “Joining the Military and Serving the Country is Never Obsolete, and the Military Commitment is Never Deteriorated” as the main theme to host multiple sessions of various type of activities, including “Commendation Ceremony”, “CPBL Kick Off”, “Armed Forces with Love”, “Pride in Military Uniform”, “Courageous Arts SHOW”, “Military Esteem Movie Premier”, and “Enterprise Military Esteem”, where propaganda including “Image Video”, “Coverage on Military Career Pride”, and “Armed Forces Praise Propaganda”.

Ministry of National Defense will host the “Armed Forces Day and National Defense Education Commendation Ceremony” at 10:00 a.m. on 30^th August, where 147 awards, including Armed Forces Role Model, Exemplary Group Supervisor, Exemplary Military Esteem, and Outstanding Contribution Award for Public National Defense, will be presented, and the awardees will be commended by President Tsai Ing-wen, Commander in Chief of Armed Forces. In order to express its gratitude to the Armed Forces comrades devoting themselves into safeguarding the homes of the people, Golden Group will be hosting the special screening for the theatrical film <Angel Has Fallen> at the Zhongzheng Hall of MND the night before the ceremony.

The highlights of the ceremony this year lie on the two activities of “Armed Forces with Love” and “Pride in Military Uniform”. During the weekends and holidays from 20^th August to 10^th September, Ministry of National Defense particularly encouraged commanders (supervisors) of each troop to lead soldiers and officers to express solicitude at vulnerable and charitable organizations in order to connect the action of “Love the People” with the spirit of “Love the Country”. In addition, the Ministry of National Defense also encouraged cadres of each troop to put on military uniform on the Armed Forces Day (3^rd September), and bring their families to conduct various activities including leisure, entertainment, and dining, allowing the military uniform to become a uniform of honor and pride.  

This year happens to be the 30^th anniversary of CPBL, and the Ministry of National Defense will be hosting CPBL kick off activity with each team at Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium, Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, and Kaohsiung Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium on 16^th, 23^rd, and 28^th August respectively, and invites soldiers and officers of each troop and their families to watch the games; the ministry also specially produced jerseys with local features for families, displaying the patriotism of the Armed Forces and their spirit of being with the people. More than 10K of soldiers and officers and their families have applied, and each arriving soldier and officer is the star of the event.

In addition, Friends of Armed Forces Association and General Welfare Service of MND specially collaborated with renowned domestic manufacturers, and have been gradually rolling out the “Enterprise Military Esteem Special Program” since 1^st August, with more than 10K stores responding to the cause. Furthermore, the Ministry of National Defense specially designed and produced the “Military Esteem Mark” for manufacturers to display their support and recognition towards soldiers.

Another activity, which is widely popular among young people, is the street performance of “Courageous Arts SHOW”. The performance will be hosted at the Xiangti Avenue in Xinyi District of Taipei City at 16:30 p.m. on 24^th August, where the Psychological Warfare Corps, Air Force Honor Guard, and Special Forces comrades will perform alongside two groups from Nan Chiang Vocational High School and Yu Da High School of Commerce and Home Economics. Miss Mena Fang, renowned CTS host, was also invited to host the activity along with Major Niu Zhi-ping, flight officer of the 601 Black Hawk Helicopter, where lovely propaganda items will also be issued during the phenomenal activity.

At the end of the press conference, Ministry of National Defense specially played the 3D animation <Tenacious and Confidence> produced solely by Armed Forces comrades; the animation depicts how a young woman gradually became an Apache flight officer, who can implement missions independently, after going through numerous honing during the training phase, and displays the concept of “Soldiers and Officers with Tenacious Confidence, and Armed Forces Are Equipped with Tenacious Combat Capability”. The animation was edited and produced with virtual three-dimensional space, and was fully rendered through multiple 3D software. From 2D animation, microfilms, and anthology series from the earlier stages, to the existing production of 3D animation, the literature side of Armed Forces can also be seen as progressing simultaneously along modern technological trends.

Finally, director Lou especially emphasized that he hopes each soldier and officer can profoundly feel that they are all protagonists of the Armed Forces Day through the diversified Armed Forces Day activity series this year, as well as the idea of “Comrades Sentiment, Celebration between Military and Public”, which is able to continue to elevate the pride image of the Armed Forces, as well as reinforce confidence and spiritual combat capability.