According to a senior government official, a plan to increase military service of Taiwan from the current four months to one year will be unveiled on Tuesday as the island struggles with increasing military pressure from China.
In order to discuss bolstering the island’s civil defence, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will convene a national security meeting on Tuesday morning, according to her office. The discussion will be followed by a news conference on unnamed new civil defence measures.
In response to growing Chinese threats, Tsai’s security committee, which includes senior members of the defense ministry and the National Security Council, has reportedly been examining Taiwan’s military structure since 2020.
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With 43 Chinese planes crossing an unofficial line between the two sides, Taipei, which rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty, announced the largest-ever Chinese air force incursion into the island’s air defence identification zone on Monday.
Following Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August, China also conducted war exercises close to Taiwan.
The official, who took part in the high-level security conference but chose not to be identified, stated that “China’s varied unilateral behaviors have become a big issue for regional security.”
Conscripts would go through more rigorous training, including combat instruction and shooting drills employed by American military, according to the plans set to put into effect in 2024, the official added. Conscripts would be responsible for protecting vital infrastructure, allowing regular forces to react more quickly in the case of a Chinese invasion effort.
To make the island’s forces more mobile, nimble, and difficult to attack, Tsai is in charge of a comprehensive modernization effort.
The initial news that Taiwan’s government will be declaring its intention to extend mandatory military service was originally published late on Monday by the official Central News Agency, citing informed government and ruling party sources.
Despite Taiwan’s steady transition from a conscript military to a volunteer-dominated professional force, discussions over how to strengthen security have been sparked by China’s increasing aggression toward the island it claims as its own and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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China has increased its political, military, and economic pressure on the autonomous island in recent years to submit to Beijing’s rule. The government of Taiwan claims that only Taiwanese people have the power to determine their future and promises to defend the country if invaded.
