The Taiwanese military has announced that it will double its recruitment of a “backup force” starting next year in the wake of increasing pressure from China.
The island nation has been bolstering its defense capabilities amid growing concern that China may use military force to reclaim Taipei.
Beijing insists that Taiwan is part of its territory, even calling the island a “breakaway province” that will eventually be part of China again.
As part of the planned increase in recruitment, the Taiwanese military will hire twice the annual number of special reservists, or “weekend warriors,” to support the country’s regular troops.
It will also set up new boot camps and training centers to bolster its reservist training capacity.
Taiwan has only been able to train 120,000 reservists per year. The country is seeking to increase its annual training capacity to 260,000 reservists.