Taiwan extends military service as China dials up pressure

Al Jazeera :
Taiwan will extend compulsory military service from its current four months to one year starting from 2024, President Tsai Ing-wen announced on Tuesday, as the self-ruled island comes under increasing Chinese military pressure.
Speaking after a national security meeting she had called to discuss reinforcing the island’s civil defence, Tsai said Taiwan wanted peace but needed to be able to defend itself.
“As long as Taiwan is strong enough, it will be the home of democracy and freedom all over the world, and it will not become a battlefield,” Tsai told a news conference announcing the decision, which she described as “incredibly difficult”.
The current military system, including training reservists, is inefficient and insufficient to cope with China’s rising military threat, especially if it launched a rapid attack on the island, Tsai added.
China’s “intimidation and threats against Taiwan are getting more obvious”, Tsai said. “No one wants war … but my fellow countrymen, peace will not fall from the sky.
“Taiwan wants to tell the world that between democracy and dictatorship, we firmly believe in democracy. Between war and peace, we insist on peace. Let us show the courage and determination to protect our homeland and defend democracy.”
Conscripts will undergo more intense training, including shooting exercises, combat instruction used by American forces, and operating more powerful weapons including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank missiles, Tsai said.
Taipei, which rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, reported the largest-ever Chinese air force incursion into the island’s air defence identification zone on Monday, with 43 Chinese planes crossing an unofficial buffer between the two sides.