Keeping an eye on cross-strait tensions

Taiwan’s decision to extend its compulsory military service, from the current four months to one year, is understandable in the light of its assessment of the threat it faces from China. The danger is that the island’s move could result in an escalation of tensions with China and make the whole of North-east Asia less stable than it is today. As a deterrent manoeuvre, Taiwan’s decision is a significant one. The military service extension represents a major about-turn for Taiwan, which had gradually reduced the period from two years until it reached the current four months in 2013, as part of a move to rely more heavily on a volunteer force of professional soldiers instead.

The new requirement, which will kick in in 2024, not only extends the period of military service, but will also make conscripts a part of defence troops, whose role is to support the island’s professional force of volunteer soldiers defending its waters, territory and airspace. Also, conscripts will undergo more intense training and operate more powerful weapons. As a case in point, privates will be taught to operate Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank missiles and drones. Such military tactics have come to the fore during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, Ukraine’s wholesale mobilisation to ward off a Russian invasion has seen a once-reluctant Taiwanese public warm to the idea of returning to longer training periods for military conscripts. Logistically, implementing the programme would require an increase in the number of officers necessary to train conscripts and greater provision of resources and facilities for the upgraded training programmes to really bolster the island’s combat readiness amid rising cross-strait tensions.