Better training needed if Taiwan extends mandatory military service, experts say

Name: Mainland China white paper declares ‘greatest sincerity’ for peaceful reunification with Taiwan
Uploaded: 2022-10-30T00:00:16.000Z
Duration: 3 min 50 s
Description: Mainland China white paper declares ‘greatest sincerity’ for peaceful reunification with Taiwan

Talk of extending conscription period from four months has increased since Russia invaded Ukraine

Tsai administration accused of stalling decision due to plan’s unpopularity with young voters

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Taiwanese military personnel take part in a live-fire exercise in Penghu on October 10. Photo: EPA-EFE

Lawrence Chungin Taipei

Published: 8:00am, 30 Oct 2022

Taiwan’s plan to extend mandatory military service to mitigate the effects of a low birth rate and inadequate training and boost preparedness for a potential invasion by mainland China has come under close scrutiny on the island.

For the service to become effective, the island’s military must greatly improve the training of conscripts rather than just focusing on extension for extension’s sake, Taiwanese defence experts said.

Talk of extending the conscription period has increased since Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year.

Officials and analysts in the United States – an informal ally and major arms supplier of Taiwan – have repeatedly called for the self-governed island to extend its existing four-month mandatory conscription to at least one year, saying the training conscripts currently receive would prove far from adequate in the event of conflict with Beijing.

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Mainland China white paper declares ‘greatest sincerity’ for peaceful reunification with Taiwan

“I believe that Taiwan needs to lengthen and toughen its conscription,” former US defence secretary Mark Esper said during a visit to Taiwan in July. “That means to have young Taiwanese boys and girls serve at least one year if not longer in their nation’s military.”