More seek gun training in Taiwan as Ukraine war drives home China threat

Trainees prepare to enter a building with their airsoft guns during an airsoft gun shooting lesson at the shooting range of the combat skill training company Polar Light, in New Taipei City, Taiwan, May 22, 2022. Since the war in Ukraine started three months ago, bookings have nearly quadrupled for lessons in how to shoot airsoft guns, or low-power devices designed to shoot non-metallic projectiles. "More and more people are coming to take part," said Max Chiang, chief executive of Polar Light. REUTERS/Ann Wang

From tour guides to tattoo artists, some in Taiwan are taking shooting lessons for the first time in their lives as Russia's invasion of Ukraine ratchets up anxiety at the prospect of giant neighbour China making a similar move on the democratic island.

China's growing military pressure on the island it claims as its own, combined with the conflict in Ukraine, has spurred debate about how to boost defences in Taiwan, which is weighing whether to extend compulsory military service.