Taiwan Calls On Youth To Join The Army Given The Chinese Military Threat

On 12 December, Taiwan's defence minister called on the youth to join the army after Chinese military aircraft came near the island over the weekend during a drill for the second time in the past month. As per the ABS-CBN news report, the incident in question saw more than 10 Chinese aircraft pass through the Miyako Strait in Japan's Okinawa chain as well as the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan, according to the defence ministry.

This incident comes following the United States president-elect Donald Trump's unprecedented phone call with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, and his suggestion Sunday (11 December) that he could drop Washington's "one China" policy. The defence minister of Taiwan, Feng Shih-kuan, termed the timing of China's air drill a coincidence, saying the island is still at risk of military threat. Feng guided the youngsters to sign up for Taiwan's military, which consists of around 2,00,000 troops.

As stated by Taiwan's defence ministry, China poses the main military threat to Taiwan, and has 1,500 missiles aimed at the island. The controversial drill also incited a spat between Beijing and Tokyo after China's defence ministry alleged that Japanese fighter jets obstructed its aircraft during the exercise, an accusation refuted by Japanese officials.