Taiwan prepares its citizens for Chinese invasion

Beijing's threat intensified after Xi Jinping declared the inevitability of China's reunification with Taiwan. He has emphasized his willingness to use force to achieve this goal, sending an increasing number of military aircraft and warships to inspect the island's defenses.

Taiwan, in turn, is trying to improve its defense capabilities. In particular, it is extending compulsory military service and modernizing the current training of reservists as part of a broader shift in defense strategy. This is done to make Xi Jinping think twice before taking risks and using force.

However, young Taiwanese are not responding to the call. Also recently, Defense Minister Wellington Koo admitted that a lack of equipment and instructors has slowed down efforts to professionalize reserve training.

"I must honestly say that we need to quickly strengthen [training - ed.] as there is still a lot of room for improvement," he said in June.

Taiwan reportedly wants to create a professional reserve force to support its 155,000 active soldiers. All Taiwanese males born in 2005 or later are now required to sign up for a year of service, while about 2 million former soldiers must undergo retraining every two years.

But officials have admitted they are behind schedule with plans to train reservists and conscripts on how to supplement troops on the front lines in the event of war. Only 6% of eligible conscripts (6,936 people) took part in the newly introduced 12-month program this year. The majority postponed military service to go to university first, meaning that many men born in 2005 will not be trained until 2027.

Those who are serving this year are not receiving the expected training. A select group of recruits were supposed to learn how to use drones, Kestrel anti-tank missiles, and Stinger surface-to-air missiles, but there were not enough cadets to start training this year.

Taiwan's slow progress in strengthening its military training is worrying military experts in both Washington and Taipei, who are urging the authorities to act faster to contain Xi Jinping and prevent war.

WP also notes that the world's largest army, the Chinese army, has 2 million active military personnel and about 400,000 recruits are recruited annually. In addition, the country's defense budget of $230 billion is 13 times higher than Taiwan's budget in 2023.

In June it was reported that Taiwan would conduct military exercises close to combat operations amid the threat from China. One of the unusual elements of the exercise for the Taiwanese army will be night training.