The Taiwanese government has been urged to study and adopt Finland’s concept of military reserves to bolster its readiness for a potential Chinese invasion.
The suggestion was recently made public by British lawmaker Tobias Ellwood when interviewed by the Central News Agency.
He stated that he is aware of the growing pressure Beijing is putting on Taiwan, which the Asian military superpower claims.
Ellwood explained that in Finland, citizens are only obliged to do one year of military service, but they have to go back every three or four years to undergo a refresher.
“If there ever was a case to mobilize the country, you have people that are very familiar with what they would do in a worst-case scenario,” he said.
The lawmaker described Finland’s concept as the best in Europe, and it could help in keeping Taiwan’s training up to date.
‘Unprepared for China’
In 2022, a Taiwanese army reservist admitted to AFP that some of his colleagues felt ill-prepared for a potential war with China.
The mandatory reservist training in the island nation was reportedly too short at the time.
Later that year, the Taiwanese government announced an extension in mandatory military service from four months to one year, citing increasing threats from Beijing.
Taipei is also considering including women in its reservist training to strengthen its defenses.