The BB-gun shooting event is a national-defense education competition for reservists, not regular military training.
Fact-check reporter: Chiu Shao-an
Managing editor: Chen Wei-ting
The original publication can be read here.
A video recently circulating on social media platforms—”The ROC military is using BB guns to fight the enemy?”—asserts that the ROC military has held many meaningless exercises in recent years and even organized a shooting competition in which veterans train with airsoft guns. In fact, the airsoft shooting event mentioned in the rumor is the “2026 National Airsoft Advancement Shooting Competition,” which is open to reservists; its purpose is all-out national-defense education for the public, not regular military training.
- The event shown in the circulating video is the “National Airsoft Competitive Shooting Competition,” held by the Ministry of National Defense on July 25, 2026. Only reservists were allowed to register. The competition incorporated battlefield-environment simulation and battlefield-casualty first-aid stations, with the aim of enhancing the ability to withstand battlefield pressure and deepening all-out national-defense education for the public.
According to the National Defense Act, the Act of Military Service, the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces, and the Guidelines for Handling Concurrent Positions Held by Military Personnel, “the ROC military” refers to active-duty service members; reservists are regarded as active-duty service members only when called up.
- Reservists all receive live-fire training during their refresher call-ups. Under the Ministry of National Defense’s “new-style refresher call-up,” shooting training hours were increased from 12 hours under the old system to 28 hours, and the total number of live rounds fired across all types of firearms was also substantially increased. In addition, if a reservist is not called up in a given year, they may register on their own for the “Reservist Rifle Shooting Training Camp.”
- Military expert Lai Ta-wen pointed out that active-duty personnel still primarily use live-fire shooting, with only a small number of units using airsoft guns as a training aid. He also said that the aim of an airsoft competition is to give the public exposure to national defense, and that it is not regular military training. Because it was being held for the first time, registration was initially opened only to reservists, given considerations of familiarity with handling firearms.
The rumor ignores the state of the ROC military’s live-fire training and stretches an all-out national-defense education airsoft competition—open for reservists to register—into “the ROC military using BB guns to fight the enemy,” a misleading claim.
[Fact-check statement] This report verifies only claims related to “the ROC military using BB guns to fight the enemy.” Remarks made by retired generals on political talk shows are opinion commentary and fall outside the scope of verification in this report.
Background
A video clip from a political talk show circulated on social media platforms, accompanied by text claiming “The ROC military is using BB guns to fight the enemy?” The video asserts that the ROC military has held many meaningless exercises in recent years, having veterans train with BB pellets and airsoft guns, which cannot possibly develop marksmanship. The end of the video shows a guest commenting on the “National Airsoft Competitive Shooting Competition.”
Fact-check
The event in the rumor is actually an airsoft shooting competition for reservists, not ROC military training.
A keyword search of the internet turns up the “National Airsoft Competitive Shooting Competition, Northern Region Preliminary” held by the Ministry of National Defense on July 25, 2026. The website shows that the competition was open for registration to those with reservist status, that the competition content incorporated battlefield-environment simulations and battlefield-casualty first-aid stations, and that its aim was to enhance the ability to withstand battlefield pressure while also emphasizing physical fitness and deepening all-out national-defense education for the public.
Lai Ta-wen, a policy analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s (INDSR) Division of Defense Strategy and Resources, said that an airsoft shooting competition is not regular military training but rather a relatively safe way for the public to engage with national defense and experience shooting. Because the event was being held for the first time, participants needed a basic grounding in firearm operation, so reservists were the primary participant group at first.
Active-duty service members and reservist refresher call-ups still primarily use live fire, which airsoft guns cannot replace
(1) Lai Ta-wen said that the active-duty ROC military still primarily uses live-fire shooting, with only a small number of units using airsoft guns as a training aid.
(2) Under the National Defense Act, Articles 37 and 38 of the Act of Military Service, and the Guidelines for Handling Concurrent Positions Held by Military Personnel, reservists are regarded as active-duty service members only during a mobilization call-up, an emergency call-up, an educational (refresher) call-up, a duty call-up, or a roll-call muster. ROC military personnel are the officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted soldiers of the Ministry of National Defense and its affiliated agencies (institutions), units, and schools, and do not include reservists.
All reservists have the opportunity to participate in live-fire training during their refresher call-ups. In November 2021, the Ministry of National Defense announced a new refresher-call-up system. Starting in 2022, it began trialing a new-style refresher call-up of “one call-up per year, 14 days each time,” substantially increasing live-fire shooting training. Shooting courses were increased from 12 hours under the old system to 28 hours, and the number of live rounds fired with pistols, rifles, machine guns, mortars, and the like increased across the board, with the total rising from 86 to 183. In June 2026, the Ministry of National Defense announced measures such as amendments to the refresher-call-up regulations and the standardization of the refresher-call-up training period at 14 days.
In addition, if a reservist is not called up in a given year, the Ministry of National Defense runs a “Reservist Rifle Shooting Training Camp,” allowing reservists who are “within 12 years of discharge” to register on their own to participate in live-fire shooting training.
A keyword search of the internet also turns up footage shot by the media in 2017 and 2020 of reservists’ live-fire shooting training during refresher call-ups.
Additional information
Airsoft guns and simulated training guns can improve the public’s firearm awareness
Lai Ta-wen has written that airsoft allows users to repeatedly practice tactical movements at scale and to build muscle memory for tactical and safety movements, thereby improving the safety and effectiveness of live-fire training. He noted that Taiwan has a mature supply chain and R&D advantages in the airsoft industry and that it should be incorporated into the training system.
On July 28, Lai Ta-wen explained that airsoft shooting competitions themselves have little connection to regular military training and cannot replace live-fire shooting, but that the timing rules and scenario designs in a shooting competition can still test competitors’ on-the-spot reactions and ability to withstand pressure. Within military training activities, airsoft can also serve as an auxiliary tool — for example, to build muscle memory, correct tactical movements, and enhance safe-operation instruction for new recruits handling firearms for the first time.
Hu Chen-tung, who served 27 years in the U.S. Air Force, also told the Central News Agency that not everyone has the chance to handle a real firearm, and that realistic training guns give ordinary members of the public the opportunity to train themselves and, in the process, learn firearm safety concepts. He said that if the entire public knew how to use firearms—as in Israel, where the whole population has received military training—an enemy would have to recalculate the cost of invasion, producing a deterrent effect.
Lead image source: Youth Daily News
Reposted from the TFC website in collaboration with StopFake as part of the Ukraine–Taiwan Initiative for Election Information Resilience.
