Nearly 80% support a longer military conscription in Taiwan. That's the latest from a survey that was released on Friday from the 21st Century Foundation, a Taiwanese research organization. With cross-strait tensions rising, Taiwan recently moved to extend the length of military conscription from four months to one year for those born in 2005 and after.
The survey found that 79% of respondents support the move. This was also true in households with children under 18 as 78% of those households support the extension.
As to whether or not China is ready to attack Taiwan, opinions are split with nearly 48% saying yes while 44% say no. Furthermore, more than half of respondents are not optimistic that staying neutral will prevent a Chinese attack.
70% of respondents said they believed most Taiwanese would resist China if a real war were to break out, while 25% did not. However, when asked in more detail about how they would personally respond to a cross-strait war, 31% said they would see what happens, 22% would defend Taiwan, and 17% would try to leave, 11% would follow the government’s decisions, and only 5% would join the military.
The survey was of 1,210 people and was taken between January 1 to 4, 2023.