Taiwan will extend its compulsory military service from four months to a year starting in 2024, as the self-ruled island faces China.
Taiwan was split from the mainland during a civil war in 1949. China cut off communications with the island's government after the election of Tsai Ing-wen, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, who is seen by Beijing as pro-independence.
China has intensified its military harassment of Taiwan in recent years, sending fighter planes and navy vessels towards the island daily. The military tracks those movements in order to train its own personnel.
The military service for men who were born after 2005 will start in January of 2020. The people who were born before 2005 will still serve four months, but under a new training curriculum.
People don't want war, Tsai said. Taiwan is at the forefront of the expansion of authoritarianism and peace does not come from the sky.
Arthur Zhin-Sheng Wang, a defense expert at Taiwan's Central Police University, said that what remains to be seen is how well the defense ministry will carry out the reforms.
The public thought that Taiwan's 4-month military requirement was too short and didn't provide the training that professional soldiers needed. As the army transitioned into an all-volunteer corps, the government reduced it from a year to four months.
The military in Taiwan has 188,000 people and 90 percent of them are volunteers.
A survey done in December by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation found that 70% of Taiwanese adults would support a year of military service. The survey found that there was support for both the Nationalist Party and the Democratic Progressives.
One of the basic steps that should have been done a long time ago is this. When Taiwan chooses a new president in 2024, it will mean that Tsai was passing the buck.
Only 35.6% of people in the group of 20 to 24 years old said they would support an extension.
Military exercises have been used by Beijing to respond to moves it sees as challenging its claims to sovereignty. China responded with the largest-scale military exercises it has held in decades after Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. Although the U.S. is an unofficial ally, Washington does not officially recognize Taiwan as a state.
We'd love to hear from you at letters@Time.com.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
