Three civil society groups have called on Taiwan’s government to extend military conscription. Economic Democracy Union researcher Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said on Tuesday that increasing the conscription period to one year should be done fairly and not use a one size fits all approach.
Lai says conscripts should have options for how they complete their service, such as dividing up their conscription period. He says conscripts should also be able to combine their service with other non-military volunteer activities.
Taiwan Citizen Front coordinator Lo Yi (羅宜) says since Taiwan implemented a volunteer military in 2018 authorities have yet to meet staffing targets. He adds this issue is likely to worsen as Taiwan’s population ages, making extending mandatory military service to one year a necessity.
Lai says besides extending military service, authorities should also implement other reforms. That includes dividing responsibilities for professional soldiers and conscripts, bringing in foreign military advisors, and creating a territorial defense force like that in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, civil defense organization Kuma Academy founder Shen Po-yang (沈伯洋) says the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of combating false information. He says amending Taiwan’s laws to strengthen regional defense is today's most pressing task.