Taiwan left divided by US ex-defence chief’s call for longer compulsory military service
- Longer training needed for conscripts in view of growing military threats from Beijing, believes one camp
- Others say the lack of training facilities, likely drain on other sectors and political impact render any extension unfeasible
While some say extending the current four-month service term is necessary in the face of growing military threats from Beijing, others believe this would be extremely difficult to implement, given Taiwan’s inadequate training capacity and manpower supply problems.
There is also the concern that young Taiwanese – a sturdy source of support for the government of President Tsai Ing-wen – might be put off if they are forced to serve eight months longer in the military, observers said.
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Esper, who served as US secretary of defence under Donald Trump, visited Taiwan last week as leader of a three-member delegation of the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. At a press conference on Tuesday, he raised the issue of extended mandatory military service to help Taiwan better prepare for a potential attack from Beijing.
Beijing views democratically run Taiwan as breakaway territory that must be brought back into the fold, by force if necessary. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has in recent years stepped up pressure on the self-governed island, with intensive naval drills and repeated warplane sorties around it.
“I believe that Taiwan needs to lengthen and toughen its conscription. That means to have young Taiwanese boys and girls serve at least one year if not longer, in their nation’s military,” Esper said.