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Darren Wang pulled glory for his role of escape in the Rom-Com for adolescents 2015 our Times
A Taiwanese actor who had previously been arrested for allegedly dodged compulsory military tasks has now started his conscription service.
Darren Wang, who took on glory for his role of escape in the Rom-Com Teen 2015 Our Times, would have used forged medical documents to try to obtain an exemption from military service, according to local media.
All Taiwan’s men must undergo compulsory military service for a year. The government noted four months in 2022, citing growing threats from continental China.
Taiwan considers himself distinct from the Chinese continent, but China considers the self-structured island as a province of separation which will eventually be under the control of Beijing.
The news of the alleged military escape from Wang, aged 33, had previously sparked a debate on Chinese social networks with Taiwanese Internet users accusing him of having escaped his functions, and others asking him to “become a citizen (of the People’s Republic of China)”.
Wang is popular on the Chinese continent and previously described as “homeland”.
Wang was arrested at his home on February 18 and taken for interrogation by police before being released on bail.
Local reports have said that he was investigated for the alleged counterfeiting of a medical document, the Taiwan central news agency saying that “relevant evidence” had been seized from his home.
He was released on bail, but was later investigated for his alleged participation in an attempted murder after the police discovered incriminating messages on his phone.
Wang was again arrested in March, and was then released on bail.
He is still investigated for the two accusations.
Wang joined more than 1,000 other recruits at the Chenggong Ling military camp in the city of Taichung on Thursday.
They will suffer weeks of basic training before being transferred to a specialized unit.
All men over 18 in Taiwan must serve in the army – although reports can be granted in some cases. However, all men are required to serve in the army when they are 36 years old.
In the 1990s, men had to serve in the army up to three years, which was gradually shortened in the coming decades, before being reduced to four months.
However, President Tsai Ing-Wen then declared in 2022 that it would be extended to one year in the middle of increasing tensions with China.
Taiwan is on the front line of authoritarian expansion, “she said, adding that conscripts will also follow more intense training, taking certain elements in the United States and other advanced soldiers.
