Taiwan will extend its existing four-month mandatory military service to one year beginning in 2024, President Tsai Ing-wen declared on Tuesday, as the self-governed island faces escalating Chinese military pressure.
Tsai stated, during a national security conference she convened to consider strengthening the island’s civil defense, that Taiwan desired peace but must be ready to defend itself.
China Vs. Taiwan
Taiwan’s leader noted that the present military structure, including the training of reservists, is inefficient and unable to deal with China’s growing military threat, particularly if China launched a swift attack on the island.
Taiwan wishes to convey to the world that, given the choice between democracy and tyranny, we staunchly choose democracy. We insist on peace between war and peace. Tsai stated that conscripts will undergo more rigorous training, including shooting drills, American-style combat training, and the use of more powerful weaponry, like Stinger anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.
China also conducted major war drills around the island in August, following the controversial visit to Taipei by then-Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, Nancy Pelosi.
According to China’s foreign ministry, Beijing criticized Washington on Saturday for its new US defense budget bill, which, by allocating military support for Taiwan, bolstered the “China threat” narrative. In a statement, the ministry stated that the defense measure “gravely threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
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Chinese Warplanes
China’s military dispatched 71 planes and seven ships toward Taiwan in a 24-hour show of force directed at the island, according to Taiwan’s defense ministry on Monday.
The move came after China voiced irritation about Taiwan-related measures in a US annual defense funding bill enacted on Saturday.
In recent years, China’s military harassment of Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory, has grown, and the Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army has launched planes or ships toward the island almost daily.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, 47 Chinese planes crossed the median of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial line formerly tacitly acknowledged by both sides, between 6 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday. China dispatched 18 J-16 fighter warplanes, 11 J-1 fighters, 6 Su-30 fighters, and drones toward Taiwan.
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