DEFENSE/Tsai inspects upgraded military training base ahead of conscription extension

Taichung, Nov. 23 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) went on an inspection tour Thursday of a military training base in Taichung that is being upgraded ahead of the implementation next year of a new government policy on longer compulsory service.

During Tsai's inspection of the Cheng Kung Lin base, she told a group of trainees that her administration's decision to extend the service period for conscripts from three months to one year was aimed at "safeguarding the nation's security and ensuring that Taiwan's democratic way of life will not be changed."

As part of an effort to improve Taiwan's combat readiness, the military is also updating its training programs, providing conscripts with new helmets and bulletproof vests, and purchasing new mortars, cannons and machine guns, Tsai said.

While the compulsory military service period will be extended from next January, the starting pay of conscripts will also be increased, from NT$6,510 (US$ 206) to NT$20,320 per month, to ensure they have enough to cover basic expenses, the president said.

The decision to lengthen the period of compulsory military service for male nationals, with effect from January 2024, is aimed at strengthening Taiwan's combat readiness against any attacks by China, the government said last December when it announced the new policy.

According to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), the total estimated number of new conscripts next year will be around 9,000, after the first batch joins the one-year service on Jan. 25, 2024.

The conscription service will comprise eight weeks of boot camp training, then assignment to designated units in the Army, Navy, Air Force, the MND's Information, Communications and Electronic Force, the Military Police, and the MND's Political Warfare Bureau and Medical Affairs Bureau, based on their specialties, according to the ministry.

Currently, Taiwan's military is mainly a volunteer force of around 215,000, with conscripts serving in a supporting role.

As of 2021, there were 160,000 voluntary military personnel in the country's armed forces.