My Take | Taiwan’s excuse to extend conscription
- The war scare from Ukraine and its propaganda value for the government of Tsai Ing-wen has prompted Taipei to consider extending mandatory military service for young men to a full year
Mainland China, it turns out, isn’t about to take advantage of the war in Ukraine and invade Taiwan. That was the overactive imagination of hawkish American fantasists. In fact, the war has very little to say about China’s intention towards the island in the near future.
But it does have an immediate effect on Taiwanese, especially the young ones of college age.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, her secession-prone Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and their American cheerleaders have been trying to maximise the propaganda impact of the Russian invasion to blow the China threat out of all proportions.
One sure way to promote anti-China sentiments on the island and to solidify the island’s version of “nationalism” is to lengthen the compulsory military service requirement for young men. The current four-month conscription period has often been ridiculed as too short. Neighbours such as South Korea and Singapore have two years of mandatory service.
It looks as though the Tsai government and the DPP majority in the Legislative Yuan are seriously thinking of pushing for a mandatory extension to at least one year. Both Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng and Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung have admitted the option is being seriously considered.
On paper, they may well have public support, or at least a lack of resistance. A March 22 survey conducted by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation found that about 76 per cent of Taiwanese supported extending conscription to at least one year. The increase in support was almost wholly attributed to the crisis in Ukraine and the alleged China threat.