Taiwan extends mandatory military service over China threat

Taiwan Air Force Mirage-2000 fighter jet pilots walk on a runway during military drills to test readiness ahead of Lunar New Year, in Hsinchu, Taiwan January 16, 2019. (REUTERS)
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  • Taipei, which rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, on Monday reported the larges-ever Chinese air force incursion into the island's air defence identification zone, with 43 Chinese planes crossing an unofficial buffer between the two sides

TAIPEI: Taiwan on Tuesday announced an extension in mandatory military service from four months to one year, citing the threat from an increasingly hostile China.
Beijing considers self-ruled, democratic Taiwan a part of its territory, to be taken one day, by force if necessary, and the island lives under the constant fear of a Chinese invasion.
China鈥檚 sabre-rattling has intensified in recent years under President Xi Jinping, and Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine has further deepened worries in Taiwan that Beijing might move similarly to annex the island.
China鈥檚 鈥渋ntimidation and threats against Taiwan are getting more obvious,鈥� President Tsai Ing-wen told a press conference after a high-level government meeting on national security.
鈥淣o one wants war... but my fellow countrymen, peace will not fall from the sky.鈥�
鈥淭he current four-month military service is not enough to meet the fast and ever-changing situation,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have decided to restore the one-year military service from 2024.鈥�
The extended requirement will apply to men born after January 1, 2005, Tsai added.
Mandatory service used to be deeply unpopular in Taiwan, and its previous government had reduced it from one year to four months with the aim of creating a mainly volunteer force.
But recent polling showed more than three-quarters of the Taiwanese public now believes that is too short.
Tsai described the extension as 鈥渁n extremely difficult decision... to ensure the democratic way of life for our future generations.鈥�
鈥淲e can only avoid a war by preparing for a war and we can only stop a war by being capable of fighting a war.鈥�
The prospect of a Chinese invasion has increasingly worried Western nations and many of China鈥檚 neighbors.
Xi, China鈥檚 most authoritarian leader in decades, has made clear that what he calls the 鈥渞eunification鈥� of Taiwan cannot be passed on to future generations.
Taiwan and China split at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and Tsai has said becoming a part of China is not acceptable to the people of the island.
Taiwan is a mountainous island and would present a formidable challenge to an invading force, but it is massively outgunned with 89,000 ground forces compared with China鈥檚 one million, according to a Pentagon estimate released last month.
Beijing also has a huge advantage in military equipment.
Taiwan has stepped up reservist training and increased its purchases of warplanes and anti-ship missiles to bolster its defenses. But experts have said that is not enough.
The island needs to go further than just extending mandatory service, said J. Michael Cole, a TaipeXi-based analyst.
鈥淕iven the threat level and the example of Russia in Ukraine, I hope the Taiwanese public realizes that such measures are needed,鈥� he told AFP.
鈥淭he threat that Taiwan faces is just as existential.鈥�
The military service announcement on Tuesday came two days after Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, which were held in response to what Beijing described as 鈥減rovocations鈥� and 鈥渃ollusion鈥� between Washington and Taipei.