The armed forces have been experiencing a general shortage of personnel since the compulsory service term for conscripts was reduced by two months at the beginning of the year, defense officials said yesterday.
The number of soldiers who were discharged last month was significantly more than the monthly average in the past.
The first soldiers to benefit from the new measure said they were happy, but the workload of the remaining conscripts has increased as a result of the reduced service term, because fewer people are left to do the same amount of work.
Soldiers say what affects them most is the sentry duty. Where previously they had at most three shifts a day to stand guard, they now have an average of four shifts each day.
An army officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the condition appears unbearable to soldiers, who are generally weak in physical strength and fragile in mental state.
"The four shifts of sentry duty a day include three in the daytime and one late at night. They can rest for several hours between each shift, but many soldiers complain the workload is much too heavy. Most of the soldiers are of the so-called `strawberry' generation. They might be very smart, but can not cope with a heavy workload and intense working conditions," the officer said.
"We have been telling them that this is a transitional period and that the situation will improve within a few months," he said.
The compulsory service term for conscripts was cut from 22 months to 20 months from Jan. 1 following an executive order of the Ministry of National Defense. The conscription law has not been changed, and still stipulates a 22-month term.
It is not known how long the measure is to last. Many opposition politicians have said that the reduction is aimed at attracting votes in the March 20 presidential election.
The compulsory service term was last reduced four years ago, also prior to the presidential election.
But according to some defense sources the service term can be cut further. The ministry's final goal is to reduce the term to one year over the next five years, the sources said.
They said the reduced service term is inevitable, since the military will need fewer and fewer personnel in future.
Some have said that while the ministry is trying to streamline the military forces' personnel structure, it has neglected to tackle the red tape and make the jobs of those who survive the personnel cut easier.
This has been the case since the previous personnel streamlining effort, the "Chingshih" project, which was conducted between 1996 and 2000, sources said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard