TAIPEI: Citing the threat posed by an increasingly hostile China, Taiwan announced on Tuesday that the mandatory military service would be increased from four months to one year.
The democratic, self-governing island of Taiwan lives in constant fear of a Chinese invasion because Beijing views the island as a part of its territory that could be taken by force one day.
President Xi Jinping has increased China’s saber-rattling in recent years, and fears in Taiwan that Beijing might annex the island in a similar manner have grown since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Following a high-level government meeting on national security, President Tsai Ing-wen stated at a press conference that China’s “intimidation and threats against Taiwan are getting more obvious.”
“My fellow countrymen, peace will not fall from the sky; no one wants war.” She stated, “The current four-month military service is insufficient to meet the rapid and ever-changing situation.” We have made the decision to reinstate the one-year military service beginning in 2024. The drawn-out necessity will apply to men brought into the world after January 1, 2005, Tsai added.
Read: TAIWAN A FLASHPOINT IN U.S CHINA RIVALRY
Taiwan’s previous government reduced mandatory service from one year to four months with the intention of creating a mostly volunteer force. Mandatory service was extremely unpopular in Taiwan. However, a recent poll found that more than three-quarters of Taiwanese people now believe that is insufficient.
“A very difficult decision… to ensure the democratic way of life for our future generations,” Tsai said of the extension.
“We can only stop a war by being capable of fighting a war and we can only avoid a war by preparing for a war.”
Western nations and many of China’s neighbors have become increasingly concerned about the possibility of a Chinese invasion. Xi has made it abundantly clear that Taiwan’s so-called “reunification” cannot be handed down to future generations. Tsai has stated that the island’s people would not accept Taiwan becoming a part of China after the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949.
According to a Pentagon estimate released last month, Taiwan is vastly outgunned with 89,000 ground forces compared to China’s one million. Taiwan is a mountainous island that would present a formidable challenge to an invading force.
