Taiwanese legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) issued a public statement on September 9 disputing how he was portrayed in a recent feature published by The Atlantic, arguing that quotes attributed to him were taken out of context in a way that misrepresents both his own record and Taiwan's broader defense reform efforts.
The Atlantic Profile Paints A Grim Picture Of Taiwan's Resolve
The article in question, titled "Will Taiwan Just Give Up?" and written by staff writer Simon Shuster, was published online on September 8. Its central argument is that trust in Washington has eroded so badly among the Taiwanese public that a negotiated accommodation with Beijing is starting to look, to many on the island, like the more realistic path forward under a second Trump administration.
To build that case, Shuster interviewed a wide range of figures on both sides of Taiwan's political divide. They included Nationalist Party chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), who has pursued warmer ties with Beijing and argued that Taiwan could secure a workable arrangement with Xi Jinping; retired admirals Lee Hsi-min (李喜明) and Richard Y.K. Chen (陳永康), who offered starkly different assessments of Taiwan's ability to resist a Chinese invasion; retired U.S. Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery and other American defense veterans who described Washington's uneven commitment to the island; drone industry figures such as Thunder Tiger general manager Gene Su; and Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers including Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Puma Shen, both members of the legislature's defense and foreign affairs committee. The piece frames Shen specifically within a passage on draft dodging, describing his choice to fulfill alternative military service at the transportation ministry and quoting him as saying regular military service "is a waste of time."
Shen Says His Military Record Was Distorted
In his statement, Shen said he sat for the interview with Shuster on April 23 and retained a full audio recording for verification. He argued that the article deliberately frames his choice of alternative service, a legal option based on his professional qualifications, as equivalent to draft dodging in order to support a broader narrative about Taiwanese reluctance to serve. "Equating the legal and compliant alternative service system with draft dodging is not only factually inaccurate, but also seriously misleads the international community's understanding of Taiwanese citizens' participation in national service," the statement reads.
Shen Says His Chores Quote Was Stripped Of Context
Shen also pushed back on the line attributed to him calling military service "a waste of time," saying the remark referred specifically to the outdated, ritualistic routines that used to define conscript training, such as cutting grass, before Taiwan's recent defense reforms took effect. He said the quote was never meant to dismiss the value of military service itself or to suggest Taiwanese lack the will to defend their country, and that using it that way ignores both the government's efforts to fix past inefficiencies and the Ministry of National Defense's ongoing reform of the conscription system.
Shen closed his statement with a broader appeal to international outlets covering Taiwan. "Journalistic professionalism and ethics must be built on objective, complete, and contextually grounded reporting, particularly when addressing critical issues such as regional security and democratic resilience," he wrote, calling on foreign media to "respect factual context when reporting on Taiwan's national defense and will to defend itself" and to avoid framing that strips quotes of their original meaning. The full statement was posted to Shen's X account.
