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.
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