More than 80 percent of respondents to a poll said they believe Taiwanese should be responsible for their country’s defense, a foundation said yesterday.
Professor Huang Kun-huei Education Foundation chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said he conducted the survey out of concern over national security issues, particularly in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The foundation’s survey asked respondents to comment on the nation’s defense training, battle readiness and education about national defense.
Photo: Chang Wei-chen, Taipei Times
Among those who responded to the survey, 83.3 percent said that Taiwanese must be ready to defend the nation on their own, and 85.8 percent said that nationwide education about national defense should better emphasize the importance of maintaining national security.
“This year has been a turbulent one. I wanted to see whether Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had served to enlighten the public of defense issues,” Huang said.
The survey also found that 76.3 percent of respondents agreed with the need to introduce national-defense education into public schools and communities, 75.4 percent said that the public should receive defense and survival skills training, and 75.2 percent said that Taiwanese should be better trained in disaster-response measures.
A further 62.3 percent said the public needs better training in media literacy to identify false information, and 53.4 percent said the public should be trained in basic combat skills.
Foundation director Feng Ching-huang (馮清皇) said that current defense education in schools — which focuses on performance-drills competition, target training, and exercises held during summer and winter breaks — is inadequate.
The results of the survey showed that the majority of the public agreed with his assessment, he said.
Foundation poll committee convenor Kuo Sheng-yu (郭生玉) said only 29.7 percent of respondents knew there were defense education programs in schools, which should serve as a warning sign.
The poll finding that only 41.4 percent of Taiwanese would be willing to sacrifice themselves for national defense was also a sign that the public lacks awareness of the significance of defense. He suggested that the government could work with civic organizations to raise awareness of defense issues.
Taiwan Association for Strategic Simulation secretary-general Chang Jung-feng (張榮豐) expressed concern over the survey’s finding that 70.5 percent of respondents believed the US would come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of an attack by China.
“Peace does not come cheap. Responsibility for one’s own defense should not be simply a slogan,” he said. “Taiwanese must wake up. Participation in national defense doesn’t necessarily mean carrying a rifle into battle. Everyone can contribute according to their strengths.”
The poll, which was conducted from June 18 to 21, gathered 1,070 valid samples from respondents 20 and older. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS