Australian parliamentary delegation warns Taiwan to immediately strengthen defences

An Australian parliamentary delegation is wrapping up a five-day visit to Taiwan where it told the territory to immediately strengthen its defences. The talks included conflict preparedness, with Liberal Senator Dave Sharma revealing the lessons he believes Taiwan should take from Israel. Unilateral change to the status quo could mean an attack by China, which has the world’s largest military. To deter this, Taiwan’s president has boosted defence spending and extended conscription from four months to 12 months service. Former Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma said it’s only a start. “Four months is inadequate … four months, you’re not training anyone to do anything, 12 months, you’re probably getting a degree of capability, but not much – Israel’s 36 months, you’d think it needs to be something closer to that," he said.