Taiwan extends mandatory military service to one year after Beijing's Christmas 'strike drills'

Days after China's military said it had conducted "strike drills" around Taiwanese sea and airspace, Taiwan announced its decision to extend the current four-month-long mandatory military serviceto a year. The longer service requirements willbe implemented from 2024, reflecting the self-governing island nation'ssense of urgencyto bolster its defences amid China's ascending assertions for 'unification'.

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Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in a press briefing on Tuesday said thatthe island needs to prepare for the increasing threat from China. "The current four-month military service is not enough to meet the fast and ever-changing situation," she said. "We have decided to restore the one-year military service from 2024."

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All Taiwanese men over 18 initially had to serve two to three years in the military as part of a conscription system adopted by Taiwan in 1949 in the events following the Chinese civil war.

After 1996, conscription was gradually reduced, reaching one year in 2008 and four months in 2018.

Taiwan-China tensions: Why extension of mandatory military service?

China sent 47 aircraft across the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, its largest incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone in recent months.The Chinese incursions and military exercises have continued all through 2022, with tensions peaking in August after a visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that prompted fury from the Chinese Communist Party.

Taiwan has active military personnel totalling about 170,000, nearly ten times less than mainland China. Taiwan reportedly estimates that 100,000 men will turn 18 each year, following which the self-governing island nation could ready up its defences during contingencies by increasing themandatory military service.

An extension of military service up to one year requires no related law revisions, thereby, the government may comfortably implement the change.

The issue has been deliberated upon by the Ministry of National Defense and National Security Council for around two years as part of Taiwan's review of its "all-out defence" system.

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