In September this year a retired tech billionaire in Taipei, white-haired and bespectacled, called the island's media to a press conference to tell them he was pledging one billion Taiwan dollars (£28m; $32m) to create a civilian army.
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Dressed in a bulletproof vest over a business shirt, Robert Tsao declared he wanted to help his countrymen and women fight against China.
The aim was to train up three million civilian "warriors" - a seventh of the population - in three years. Office workers, students, shopkeepers, parents could all learn to pick up a gun; he wanted 300,000 sharpshooters.
The task was ambitious, he acknowledged. But he vowed it could be done.
He brandished a picture of a fresh Taiwan identity card, something he'd re-applied for after renouncing his Singapore passport. He wasn't running away, he said. And he wasn't scared.
"I think as long as people are in Taiwan, they will be willing to defend their country. They are not afraid of Chinese military aggression," he told the BBC a few weeks later.
Born in China but raised in Taiwan, Mr Tsao created the United Microelectronics Corp semiconductor company, making his fortune in an industry the island is now globally known for.
As a businessman, he had many dealings in China. An ardent student of history, he has been a high-profile voice in policy debates for decades. In 2007 he championed the idea of a referendum on unification with the mainland.