The military plans to recruit more college students this year for the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) in light of the program's growing popularity among college students.
The military is offering 150 spots this year for college students who want to join the program. The number of vacancies offered this year is more than half of those offered for the past four years combined. Colonel Chiu Chao-li (
"The high unemployment rate may be one of the factors behind the growth in ROTC vacancies, but it is by no means the only factor," Chiu said.
Chiu made the remarks yesterday at a regular ministry press conference.
The ROTC program, modeled after the US program, began in 1997, eight years after the ministry first thought of establishing an ROTC in Taiwan. Unlike the US program, however, Taiwan's is currently limited to the army only.
"The ROTC system is very important for the US military. It helps produce a large number of leaders for its forces. In 1989, for instance, the ROTC produced 245 generals for the US army, accounting for 56 percent of the generals in the service," Colonel Chiu said.
"Famous US military leaders who entered military service through the program include current secretary of state Colin Powell, ex-secretary of defense William J. Perry, and ex-army chief of staff General Gordon R. Sullivan," he said.
"We also plan to develop generals out of ROTC students. The first general to be born out of the program is expected to appear within 18 to 20 years," he said.
One of the program's first participants in 1997, Second Lieutenant Lin Wen-ping (
Lin graduated from the National Taiwan Ocean University.
"I thought of serving in the military as I was training at Chenkungling [a six-week military training course that used to be required for every male college freshman] in 1997. I decided to join ROTC right then," Lin said.
"I think there is a lot of fun in the military. I am very interested in tanks, so I choose the armored branch of the army as my specialty," he said.
The starting salary for a ROTC officer is NT$44,958 a month.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS