Taiwan Expands Conscription Amid China Threats

Taiwan announced yesterday that it will extend its mandatory military service from four months to a year, a signal to Beijing and Washington that it is serious about defending it.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
27 December 2022 Tuesday 09:30
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Taiwan Expands Conscription Amid China Threats

Taiwan announced yesterday that it will extend its mandatory military service from four months to a year, a signal to Beijing and Washington that it is serious about defending it.

President Tsai Ing Wen told a news conference in Taipei on Tuesday that the change, due to take place from 2024, was necessary to ensure international support, warning that China's expansionism threatened regional stability.

“This was an extremely difficult decision, but it is inevitable for Taiwan's survival,” he said, speaking alongside Prime Minister Su Tseng Chang, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo Cheng and other senior officials. "As long as Taiwan is strong enough, Taiwan will not become a battlefield."

Taiwan's government is working with the United States, its main military ally, to strengthen its defenses against the possibility of a Chinese invasion, which claims the island as part of its territory. Last week, US lawmakers approved a $1.7 trillion spending bill that includes $2 billion in arms funding for Taiwan.

China responded to this announcement with its biggest display of military might since it carried out unprecedented exercises around the island following the visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, in August this year. Some 71 Chinese fighter jets flew near the island earlier this week, including 47 that made sorties across the median line of the Taiwan Strait or into Taiwan's southwestern air defense identification zone.

Such raids occur on an almost daily basis, allowing the Chinese People's Liberation Army to probe Taiwanese defenses and test Taiwan's small army. The Taipei Defense Ministry said yesterday that it had sighted another six Chinese warplanes and three warships, and was following them with its own planes, ships and missile systems.

The decision to extend military service is very popular in Taiwan, with 68% of those polled in favor, according to a poll by TVBS, one of the main broadcasters in Taipei. It is also in line with the demands of former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who urged Taiwan to take the plunge on a visit in July.

Tsai also announced that the government will increase the salary of recruits during their year of service, giving them a monthly salary equivalent to about 800 euros. That move is aimed at making the requirement more palatable to young men, given that the current figure was below 200 euros, less than a quarter of what the minimum wage would provide.