The proposal by US House Representatives, both Republicans, Dana Rohrabacher and Jim Ryun last weekend that Taiwan send its Marines to Iraq has placed the nation's Marine Corps in the spotlight -- even if the proposal is seemingly unworkable.
Pro-China legislators were among those most vehemently opposed to the idea.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
"Whenever a country requests another country to dispatch its troops, the bottom line is that they must recognize each other as a country. Would this mean that, at this moment, the US recognizes Taiwan as a country instead of as part of China?" asked People First Party (PFP) Legislator Sun Ta-chien (
Retired Admiral Nelson Ku (顧崇廉), now a PFP lawmaker, said that there was no reason for Taiwanese Marines to join operations in Iraq.
"`For whom' and `for what' are the bottom lines for the military in carrying out its missions," Ku said. "However, we cannot find any reasonable answers to these questions in regard to this issue."
Ku said that to join the alliance, Taiwanese troops would have to train with other troops so they could familiarize themselves with alliance tactics.
He also said it was very important to establish who would foot the bill.
"If coalition members don't pay, then the Taiwanese people will. However, I think it would be rather difficult to persuade Taiwanese to pay for all of this at this moment," Ku said. "We cannot fight for nothing. It is not our military's job to protect other countries."
Fearless
But Rohrabacher and Ryun's proposal at least brought a degree of international credibility to Taiwan's Marines, whose slogan is "Fearless of pain, hardship and death."
The nation has 39,000 Marines, based in Tsoying, Kaohsiung City. But most of this number is made up of conscripts completing their two-year compulsory military service.
The Marine Corps has four divisions -- infantry, armor, artillery and amphibious reconnaissance. Airborne and hovercraft divisions are also now under development.
In the infantry division, the Marines have a "security company" which is res-ponsible for guarding naval bases and other functions normally assigned to military police.
The company also functions as a combat unit and is responsible for supporting air defense, counter-intelligence and other missions.
To become a marine, a recruit must attend a two-month boot camp in the corps' training center in Pingtung County. After that, the recruit is assigned to advanced training programs according to his or her abilities. The total amount of time spent on training is approximately six months.
In 2001 the Marines invited US military personnel to observe exercises. The US military officials complimented their Taiwanese counterparts, saying that parts of the training program were tougher than the US Marines' schedule.
Weapons
Taiwan's Marines are equipped with a wide range of weapons, including T-74 machine guns, XT-86 combat rifles, T-77 submachine guns, T-65 rifles, Colt 45mm pistols, 300 US M-60 A3 tanks, 200 US M-41 tanks, a total of 700 LVT armored vehicles, US V-150 and domestically built amphibious assault vehicles, US M-24 armored personnel carriers and LTH-6 carriers armed with 105mm cannons.
As to nautical hardware, the Marines boast 46 landing ships, 130 transportation craft and 210 armored landing craft. In addition, the navy's two Newport Class landing ships, leased from the US, allow the Marines to launch attacks 8km from shore. These ships can carry 420 Marines, 500 tonnes of vehicles, four small landing craft and two helicopters.
The Newport Class landing ship is also able to drop Marines and armored vehicles via a 100m-long retractable bridge or a 34m-long retractable bridge if the vessel has trouble docking during combat.
In addition to combat missions, the Marines also monitor airspace on behalf of the navy. The Marines can spot aircraft approaching bases from more than 30km away and can track 64 different objects at the same time.
Special forces
For years the Marines were renowned for their Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit (ARPU) and Special Service Company (SSC). However, in October 1999, the SSC was brought under the ARPU's command.
Marines special force members, most of whom are Aboriginal, are career soldiers. A special force member must be between 170cm and 180cm in height, weigh between 60kg and 80kg, have an IQ of 110 or above and not need to wear glasses. In addition, the ARPU does not allow its member to sport tattoos.
The special forces' daily physical training regimen involves swimming in full combat gear and a lengthy run. In addition, every member is a qualified martial-arts practitioner who is also trained in special combat skills such as demolitions, lock-picking, scuba diving, combat tactics, weapons training and jump training.
At the same time, team members must have a basic knowledge of how to operate different modes of transport, including vehicles, aircraft and ships.
In addition to weapons used by the Marines, the ARPU is also equipped with Uzi submachine guns, M733 rifles, Glock 17 pistols, SSG-2000 sniper rifles, night-vision gear and GPS navigation systems.
Weakening?
However, attempts to change the military into a "high-tech" force led to reforms in basic physical training -- except for the ARPU -- which worries a number of people in the military.
"If the government decides to send our Marines to join the US in Iraq, it would suggest to me that the government really hasn't got any idea what's going on. Could our Marines survive in the desert? I really doubt it," retired Vice Admiral Lan Ning-li (
Lan said that before 1991, the period of compulsory military service for those in the navy, air force or Marines was three years. Back in that era, he said, even retired Marines would be asked to march at least 70km during regular recalls.
"There is a school of thought that says these new, easier regulations are weakening our forces somewhat," Lan said. "That is why I am worried that our Marines may let us down if we send them to the battlefield now."
Lan said the real problem was that the Marines do not receive the attention they deserve.
"For instance, they do not have state-of-the-art weapons. Many of their weapons are actually leftovers from World War II," he said. "In addition, constant government cutbacks to marine numbers is making the problem go from bad to worse."
Responding to Lan's complaints, Marines headquarters said there was still a daily physical training program, including a 3km run, for all Marines, and that the reduced physical training did not make a significant difference to the force.
"Honor is the most important thing for soldiers, especially for Marines," said one senior marine at the headquarters, who wished to remain anonymous.
In the meantime, the officer said that the Marine Corps was also focusing on mental conditioning and training programs utilizing advanced technology.
"We need Marines who can work under pressure," the officer said. "In addition, we need everybody to know how to use a computer, because these days many weapons are guided by computers."
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern