Extending mandatory conscription from four months to one year has bolstered the Taiwan military’s ability to defend the self-governed island. The change took effect in January 2024 amid the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) threats to forcibly annex Taiwan, which it claims as its territory.
Men are subject to the compulsory military service at age 18. After eight weeks of basic training, most serve as sentries at key facilities or perform other basic duties, freeing volunteer enlisted personnel for more complex details.
Women are not subject to conscription but can enlist for active-duty military service and volunteer for the reserve force.
The longer mandatory commitment enhances training. In February, for instance, conscripts donned protective gear and entered a tear-gas filled chamber, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported. The drill, which recruits had not undertaken for more than a decade, instilled confidence and taught proper use of safety equipment.
Taiwan had about 169,000 active-duty military personnel and 1.66 million reservists as of 2022, according to reports. Taiwan’s military leaders project enrolling more than 9,100 conscripts in 2024, with most assigned to the Army. Conscripts who don’t extend their commitment beyond one year will remain available as reservists, an essential resource as Taiwan increasingly contends with PRC gray-zone tactics including almost daily military flights near the island.
“The extension of compulsory service to one year will not only enhance immediate combat effectiveness, but will also improve the quality of reserve personnel, strengthen mobilization energy, and enhance the overall combat effectiveness,” the Taiwan Army stated upon arrival of the first 670 conscripts in January.
Then-President Tsai Ing-wen announced the extended military conscription in December 2022. The move returned the mandatory service term to what it was before 2013, when the conscription period dropped to four months. Taiwan residents largely support lengthening the mandatory period, according to March 2024 surveys by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei think tank.
The extension also applies to those who qualify for nonmilitary programs. Acceptance into civilian defense and military support operations is based on an applicant’s skills, research and development qualifications, family situation or religious beliefs, the Central News Agency reported.
Demographics have challenged Taiwan’s military recruitment. The island of 24 million people had one of the world’s lowest birth rates in 2023, with an average of 1.09 children per woman, according to estimates. By 2035, Taiwan is expected to have 20,000 fewer births per year than the 153,820 recorded in 2021, according to Taiwan’s National Development Council.
Other Indo-Pacific countries with low birth rates, such as South Korea and Vietnam, also have conscription laws.
Taiwan conscripts will receive more intense training than their predecessors, including combat instruction and use of weapons such as Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank missiles, officials said.
Monthly pay also increased, with entry-level conscripts receiving about $650, more than three times the amount under the four-month conscription period, officials said.
“One year of service should be more useful than four months; at least I’ll be able to learn some actual skills,” Huang Cheng-te, an 18-year-old high school student from Taipei, told Singapore-based broadcaster CNA. “They’re also raising our pay, so I hope to have some savings.”
