Taiwan revives 'anti-Communist patriotic education' as security environment evolves

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has reinstated its "Anti-Communist Patriotic Education" program for military academy graduates, a move that experts say reflects the country's efforts to adapt its military education to an evolving security environment.

The education

On July 5, the MND said the decision was made in response to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) intensifying military threats against Taiwan, as well as its expanding united front activities, infiltration efforts, and gray-zone operations.

The ministry said military academy graduates form the backbone of frontline leadership within Taiwan's armed forces and must fully understand the country's national security challenges and the military's mission: "why they fight and whom they fight for." 

China sees self-ruled Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, as a breakaway province and has not ruled out the use of force to unify the island.

Accordingly, the "Anti-Communist Patriotic Education" program has been reinstated beginning in 2026.

The course was first introduced in 1965 and has undergone several name changes over the decades. In 2002, it was renamed "Patriotic Education." 

This year, the original title, "Anti-Communist Patriotic Education," was restored.

The revived program began on July 1. On the opening day, Chief of the General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) delivered a keynote address, encouraging graduates to continue learning, embrace future challenges, and remain committed to their original aspiration of serving the nation through military service.

Beijing's response

At a July 8 press briefing, China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) criticized Taiwan's decision to restore the "Anti-Communist Patriotic Education" program.

TAO spokesperson Chen Pinhua (陳斌華) said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was attempting to indoctrinate military academy graduates in Taiwan with "anti-communist" ideology and incite them to "fight for Taiwan independence and fight for the DPP."

Chen also accused the DPP of "turning back the wheel of history" and deliberately escalating cross-strait tensions.

Old wine in a new bottle

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of the Division of Defense Strategy and Resources at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), told TCN that the restored "Anti-Communist Patriotic Education" is, in many ways, "old wine in a new bottle."

Su said the initiative is comparable to former Australian defense chief Angus Campbell's 2020 call for Western democracies to revive elements of political warfare in response to Russia's hybrid warfare and China's cyber and disinformation campaigns.

Taiwan's latest move reflects a broader reassessment of today's security environment, Su said.

Political warfare

According to Su, Taiwan significantly reduced political warfare and psychological operations during its democratization in the late 1990s, mirroring a broader trend across the United States and many Western democracies after the end of the Cold War.

At the time, conventional military threats appeared to be receding, and governments shifted their focus toward democratic governance and the so-called peace dividend, he said.

However, Su noted that China's political influence operations, cyber activities, disinformation campaigns, and other forms of gray-zone coercion have since become increasingly persistent and aggressive.

As a result, Taiwan's decision to restore these capabilities should not be interpreted as a return to Cold War-era practices, but rather as an adaptation to a fundamentally different security environment, he said.

The objective is not ideological mobilization, Su argued, but strengthening democratic resilience, countering hostile influence operations, and enhancing society's capacity to withstand sustained political and cognitive pressure.

The necessity of patriotic education

DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), who serves as convener of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, said all democratic countries use military and civic education to help service members understand what they are defending — their country, people, and democratic institutions — while also ensuring they recognize the security threats facing the nation.

Such education is particularly important for future officers and noncommissioned officers who will assume leadership responsibilities within the armed forces, Chen said.

He added that meaningful national defense education must reflect the actual threats Taiwan faces today, including Beijing's military pressure, intelligence-gathering activities, organizational infiltration, cognitive warfare, and efforts to probe Taiwan's military deployments and sensitive information through various means.

Chen also argued that, alongside restoring patriotic education, Taiwan's military should place greater emphasis on counterintelligence education.

Service members, he said, must understand not only who the adversary is, but also how hostile actors recruit, infiltrate, cultivate sources, and collect intelligence. They should be trained to recognize potential security risks encountered during routine duties, social media use, interpersonal relationships, and even the transition to civilian life after military service.

Counterintelligence awareness, Chen added, should go beyond basic confidentiality briefings and become a practical professional competency embedded throughout military education.