New Delhi: Taiwan has extended its mandatory military service from four months to one year, citing the threat from an increasingly hostile China, reported news agency AFP. “The current four-month military service is not enough to meet the fast and ever-changing situation,” Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen told a news conference.
“We have decided to restore the one-year military service from 2024.”
Beijing’s sabre-rattling has intensified in recent years under President Xi Jinping, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine deepened fears in Taiwan that China might move similarly to annex the island.
#BREAKING Taiwan extends mandatory military service to one year: president pic.twitter.com/wcH8Qk9rWC
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) December 27, 2022
The tensions further escalted this year after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island nation despite threats by Beijing.
On Monday, Taiwan Defence Ministry said that around 71 warplanes were used by China for ‘strike drills’ around the island nation over the weekend.
Responding to Taiwan, China said that it had conducted “strike drills” in the sea and the airspace around Taiwan on Sunday in response to what it said was provocation from the democratically-governed island and the United States, reported Reuters.
“71 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected in our surrounding region by 6 am today,” Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.
ALSO READ: China Conducts Strike Drills With 71 Warplanes Around Taiwan, 43 Planes Cross Taiwan Strait: Taipei
“47 of the detected aircraft had crossed the meridian line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southeast ADIZ,” it added.
Reacting to the drills, Taiwan said that it showed that Beijing was destroying regional peace and trying to cow down Taiwan’s people.
As per the Reuters report, Taiwan sent unspecified combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese planes, while missile systems monitored their flight, the ministry said, using standard wording for its response.
China, which considers Taiwan to be a part of its territory, has stepped up pressure in recent years on the self-governed island to accept Beijing’s rule. Taiwan, which rejects China’s assertion, says it wants peace but will defend itself if attacked.
