Conscription in Taiwan

Conscription
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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), maintains an active conscription system in accordance with the regulations set by the government of the Republic of China. All qualified male citizens of military age in the country are obligated to perform 1 year on active duty military service or receive 4 months of military training.

In the early history of Taiwan, armed forces were composed of military volunteers. Conscription was first enforced in Taiwan in January 1945, the final year of Japanese colonial rule. The Government-General of Taiwan forcibly drafted Taiwanese people to join the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and Navy (IJN) to fight on in World War II. After the Surrender of Japan, the government of the Republic of China which occupied Taiwan as the representative of the Allied Forces in 1945, restarted conscription in Taiwan in December 1949 just after losing the Chinese Civil War on the mainland and retreating to the island. Duration of compulsory military service for all Taiwanese male citizens ranged between 2 and 3 years in the 2nd half of the 20th century.

In the 2000s the government of the Republic of China were aiming for an all volunteer military. Duration of compulsory military service were reduced gradually from 2 years in 2000 to 1 year in 2008. In addition, an alternative civilian service system, called the substitute service, was also established in 2000. In the 2010s, the government made further progress for an all volunteer military goal to end the mandatory military service. A separate military training scheme was implemented in 2013, which has a duration of about 4 months. The transition from active duty military service to military training was done in late 2018. Starting 2019, most personnel of Republic of China Armed Forces were largely military volunteers.

But since 2017 the rapid deterioration of People's Republic of China–United States relations has made a concern that the PRC may seek to finalize the current ambiguous status quo of Taiwan Strait dating back to the 1940s with its People's Liberation Army (PLA). In December 2022, the government of the Republic of China announced an reinstatement of the mandatory 1 year long active duty military service from January 2024.