《TAIPEI TIMES》Delegation lauds longer conscription

NATIONAL INTERESTS: Project 2049 Institute cofounder Randall Schriver commended Taiwan’s defense reforms and said that the group expects more improvements

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

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Taiwan has made a “tough” yet “appropriate” decision by extending the duration of conscription from four months to one year amid increasing military threats from China, a delegation from the Project 2049 Institute said yesterday.

“Leaders have to make tough decisions and we noted the decision on extending the term of service for conscripts in Taiwan. We know those things are not easy. However, given the threats you face, it seems appropriate and we applaud your leadership on defense reform that has already been announced. We also expect more to come [on defense reform],” institute cofounder Randall Schriver told President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Taipei.

Schriver also lauded Taiwan’s achievements over the past two years, including controlling its COVID-19 outbreak, helping Ukrainian refugees in Poland and withstanding the increasing military threat from China.

These are difficult challenges, but Tsai has shown that she is capable of defending Taiwan’s sovereignty, national interests and values that Taiwanese have been working hard to preserve, he said.

Tsai told the delegation that Taiwan would improve the content and capacity of conscript training, in addition to extending the duration of mandatory military service.

“As Taiwan is on the front line of democracy, we understand that we can protect freedom and democracy, ensure national security and regional peace and stability only by bolstering our self-defense capability, as well as social and economic resilience,” Tsai said.

“We look forward to working more closely with our democratic allies to jointly defend our faith and values,” she said.

Taiwan and the US have been important trading and strategic partners, and Washington has fulfilled its security commitment to Taipei by announcing arms sales to Taiwan, Tsai said.

Both sides continue to expand their trade partnership through dialogue mechanisms, Tsai said.

“As a new round of negotiations on the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade is to take place on Saturday, we hope that both countries will make substantial progress on bilateral trade relations,” she said.

Vice President William Lai （賴清德） told the delegation in a separate meeting that he thanked Schriver for urging the US government to include Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, an economic initiative launched by US President Joe Biden on March 23 last year.

The appeal was crucial to the survival of Taiwan and maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, Lai said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES