Mandatory Military Service to Extend from 4 Months to 1 Yr: Prez Tsai Ing-wen

Taipei (Taiwan): Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has said that mandatory military service would be extended from four months to one year.

Speaking at a press conference in Taipei today, President Tsai announced new plans to bolster Taiwan’s defence in the event of an attack from Beijing. She said peace will not drop from the sky when Taiwan is on the frontline of authoritarian expansion.

The decision to extend mandatory military service comes amid growing tensions with China, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory. President Tsai chaired a national security meeting this morning to discuss reinforcing the island’s Civil Defence.

Taiwan’s security team, including high-level officials from the Defence Ministry and the National Security Council, has been reviewing their military system since 2020 amid increasing threats from China.

Taipei, which rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, yesterday reported the largest-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.