Compulsory military service is to end after 67 years, with the last military personnel conscripted under the system to be discharged on Wednesday next week.
Those enlisted under the compulsory system were required to serve for a year, but as the nation transitions toward an all-volunteer military system, men born after 1994 had to undergo only four months of training.
The government implemented the compulsory military system in 1951.
Photo: Aaron Tu, Taipei Times
Since 1954, most army personnel were required to serve for two years, while those in the navy, air force and a special army unit had to serve for three years.
In 1981, compulsory enlistment was changed to two years for all personnel.
The conscription period was further reduced in 1991, when the two-year requirement was changed to 1 year, 10 months.
In August that year, the government also introduced alternative military service.
From 2004 to 2007, the conscription period was reduced by two months every year and in 2008 cut to one year.
More than 780,000 men have completed one-year compulsory military service since July 2008, Ministry of National Defense data showed.
Even after the December 2013 reduction to four months for men born after 1994, men born before Dec. 31, 1993, were still required to complete one year of service.
Soldiers in the final batch are made up of 299 army personnel, 39 navy personnel, 41 marines and 33 air force personnel for a total of 412, the data showed.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
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