Carrying hefty duffel bags, Taiwanese conscripts walked off a bus and headed to a row of waiting barbers armed with razors — ready to shear the young men’s hair in preparation for their one-year compulsory military service.
The new recruits arriving in Taiwan’s western city of Taichung on Thursday are the first batch taking part in the island’s one-year mandatory military service — an extension from the previously obligatory period of four months.
The extension was first announced in 2022 and is part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s plan to bolster the self-ruled island’s defences in the face of an increasingly aggressive China.
Despite Taiwan having its own government, currency and military, Beijing claims the island as part of its territory and has in recent years upped the rhetoric of “unification” being “inevitable”.
China has never renounced the use of force to try and bring Taiwan under its control and has maintained a near-daily military presence around the island.
Welcoming the new recruits on Thursday, Hong Hsin-chi, commander of the training camp, vowed to be “strict but not harsh”. He said the armed forces have added “more professional courses” to boot camp such as combat, quick-fire training.
After eight weeks of training, they will be transferred to different branches of the military.
“When they graduate, they will be qualified soldiers,” Mr. Hong said. The first batch of 670 recruits will be reporting to three training centres across Taiwan.
The conscription age in Taiwan is 18, with deferment granted for higher education — though all men are required to serve in the military by the time they turn 36. Mandatory service used to be deeply unpopular in Taiwan, and its previous government had reduced it from one year to four months with the aim of creating a mainly volunteer force.
