Taiwan’s military announced plans Tuesday to include women in reserve training for the first time this year, as the island tries to strengthen its forces against threats from China.
Independent and democratic Taiwan lives in fear of a Chinese invasion, as Beijing claims the island as part of its territory that it will seize one day, by force if necessary.
China’s sabre-rattling has intensified in recent years under President Xi Jinping, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further deepened worries in Taiwan that Beijing may move the same.
Voluntary reserve training
Taipei’s defense ministry said it will allow about 200 discharged female soldiers to register for voluntary reserve training starting in the second quarter of this year, as part of efforts to boost reserve forces.
“This is the first year that women are included in reserve training so this year will be a trial program,” said Major General Yu Wen-cheng of the ministry’s All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency.
Also read: German MPs, ministers due in Taiwan as tensions with China rise
“We will plan the training capacity according to the number of applicants.”
The voluntary program aims to “strengthen the effectiveness of retraining reservists in combat skills to help improve the combat capabilities of reservists,” he told reporters.
|
Currently, only Taiwanese men are required to do conscription and reserve training, although women can volunteer in the armed forces.
Many military analysts have urged Taiwan to do more to increase its reserves and prepare its civilian population for defense, including allowing more women to train.
Last month, Taiwan announced it would increase mandatory military service for men to a year – from four months – due to threats from an increasingly hostile China.
Some lawmakers have proposed including women in some form of compulsory service.
Taiwan lost
President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s first female president, said the extension of military service was necessary to “ensure a democratic way of life for future generations”.
“No one wants war…but my brother, peace will not fall from the sky.”
Taiwan is a mountainous island and would present a formidable challenge to an invading force, but it has been heavily outnumbered, with 89,000 ground troops compared to China’s one million, according to Pentagon estimates.
|
Taiwan and China split at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and Tsai has said being part of China is unacceptable to the islanders.
Xi, China’s most assertive leader in decades, said the so-called “reunification” of Taiwan should not be passed down to future generations.
Also read: Taiwan expects greater Chinese pressure after Xi cements power – FM