Taiwan will increase the necessary military service duration for all eligible men from four months to a year in response to escalating Chinese threats, President Tsai Ing-wen announced during a news conference in Taipei on Tuesday.
The new conscription period, which begins in 2024, will apply to men born after 2005, she said.
Tsai stated that four months of mandatory military training "no longer suit the needs" of Taiwan's defense and that while extending the service duration was a "difficult decision," it was important to protect the island's democratic way of life.
"We need to actively prepare for war to prevent war, and we need to be able to fight a war to stop a war," she said
In recent months, China has made its largest incursion into the island's air defense zone, sending 43 airforce jets to the Taiwan Strait on Sunday. This comes as China pushes its territorial claims over Taiwan, which the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing has never controlled.
The decision is a U-turn for Taiwan, a self-governing democracy with a population of 23.5 million, which had just reduced required conscription from one year to four months.
According to Taiwan's Defense Ministry, under the new system, all conscripts will have to go through eight weeks of basic military training before moving on to 44 weeks of ground training.
Tsai also stated that conscripts' monthly payments will be increased from around $195 to more than $650.
"Maintaining peace is reliant on national defense, and national defense relies on every citizen," she said.
In a statement to CNN, a White House spokesperson expressed support for Taiwan's announcement, saying it highlighted "Taiwan's commitment to self-defense and strengthens deterrence."
"The United States will continue to support a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues, and oppose any unilateral changes in the status quo by either side," the spokesperson added.
Tsai also announced a series of military reforms on Tuesday, including the division of forces into four major categories: main combat force, garrison force, civil defense system, and reservist system.
The primary combat force will be made up of professional soldiers who will be in charge of territorial security, while the garrison force will be largely made up of conscripts who will be in charge of protecting important infrastructure within Taiwan.
Conscripts will practice first aid and lifesaving abilities as well as deal with modern weapons such as drones during training.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, which reignited questions over Taiwan's readiness for a future Chinese military attack, public debates regarding increasing the conscription period exploded.
