The Ministry of National Defense said yesterday the military would cut personnel from 275,000 to 215,000 over the next five years.
The plans were part of the ministry’s Quadrennial Defense Review, which was made public at a press conference.
The military has also announced plans to complete a transition to an all-volunteer force by December 2014.
The review said the Military Police Command would be dissolved, with some of its personnel transferred to the army.
Asked at the legislature whether the abolition of the military police would have a negative impact on the defense of the capital and the president, Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) said the army would form a command in Taipei to replace the military police and ensure continuity.
The defense review is the result of an amendment to the National Defense Act (國防法) requiring the ministry to provide a four-year review to the legislature.
Meanwhile, the military said yesterday that programs for the development of short and medium-range missiles, launched under the former Democratic Progressive Party government, were still in place.
Asked for comment by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) about the status of the program during a Diplomacy and National Defense Committee meeting, Chen said: “The development of Hsiung Feng II-E was approved by the legislature. The development will continue unless the legislature passes a resolution stopping it.”
“We see the Hsiung Feng II-E as a defensive weapon, which would be used to attack an enemy’s military bases to delay its military action in wartime,” he said.
Taiwan successfully test-fired the Hsiung Feng-II anti-ship missile, developed by the military-run Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, in 2002.
The missile, which has a range of more than 150km, can be fired from land, sea and air. Taiwan was also developing the Hsiung Feng-III, with a range of 300km, that would make China’s southern and eastern coasts possible targets. The missiles were developed with the aim of deterring the People’s Liberation Army navy, the government said at the time.
Since taking office last year, the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has been accused by opposition lawmakers of appeasing China by shying away from developing offensive weapons.
Former deputy minister of national defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) said on Sunday he was concerned that the Ma government would mothball the programs.
Part of the budget for the development of the Hsiung Feng II-E was frozen in October 2007 by KMT legislators, led by then KMT legislator Su Chi (蘇起), who is now National Security Council secretary-general. At the time, Su said it was an offensive weapon that would put Shanghai within range, adding that Taiwan should not be developing offensive weapons.
The legislature unfroze the budget in December 2007 following cross-party negotiations.
The review said the military was developing a doctrine for asymmetric warfare in light of the military balance in the Taiwan Strait having tipped in China’s favor.
"Developing advanced information warfare capabilities and weapons such as the Hsiung Feng II-E are military strategies for asymmetric warfare,” Deputy Chief of General Staff for Operations and Planning Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) told the press conference.
Also yesterday, Vice Admiral Li Hsi-ming (李喜明) said Taiwan should not make concrete moves to reduce military tensions with China before there is a domestic consensus to do so and political trust develops between the sides.
Li spoke to reporters after the review’s release.
The study acknowledged that tensions across the Taiwan Strait have receded since Ma took office 10 months ago, but said that Beijing “has never renounced the use of military force against [Taiwan].”
Li said specific measures aimed at “building confidence” with the Chinese military were beneficial, but said that they could only move forward under certain conditions.
“It would be inappropriate to push for confidence building measures without a public consensus in Taiwan,” he said. “[And] before there is political mutual trust it is impossible to push for them.”
While Li did not detail how such trust could develop, Ma and other top officials have repeatedly called on China to dismantle the 1,500 missiles it aims at Taiwan.
In parallel with Li’s comments, other senior officers said the country was committed to continuing to acquire cutting-edge weapons systems from the US, including F-16C/D fighter jets and diesel submarines.
More advanced jet fighters like the F-35 are also on the radar screen, the officers said, but a decision has not been made on filing a formal request for them.
Earlier this month the US agreed to make Orion PC-3 marine patrol aircraft available to Taiwan and is believed to be close to approving a sales contract for Apache helicopters. But any serious consideration on the F-16s is believed to be months away — at the very least.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AP
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS