The Ministry of National Defense yesterday told a news conference that it will continue to draft eligible Taiwanese to military service next year, the second time it has pushed back the target date for ending conscription as Taiwan tries to shift to an all-volunteer military force.
To maintain a force large enough to defend the nation, the ministry requires 9,600 men born before 1993 to perform one year of military service, said Lieutenant General Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞), who is responsible for the military’s human resources.
The military’s plan was to end conscription this year and discharge the latest conscripts after one year of service at the end of this year, leaving an all-volunteer force by next year, although four months of military training would still be mandatory.
However, the ministry last year said that it would continue to draft eligible men born before 1994 to enlist another 23,100 soldiers for a year of military service this year.
The plan was revised because the military does not expect to meet its recruitment target by the end of the year, but the ministry said that the policy of moving toward an all-volunteer force remains unchanged.
Those born after 1994 will be exempt from one-year compulsory military service, but will still be required to undergo four months of mandatory military training upon reaching conscription age, Hsu said.
Hsu said that the ministry would conduct a thorough review of military staff before making a decision on whether it would push the implementation of volunteer military service to 2018.
Once the target of 90 percent volunteer soldiers and officers is reached, the ministry will end conscription, Hsu said.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday demanded that Somalia reverse its decision prohibiting Taiwanese passport holders from entering or transiting through the country. Somalia said it is following the “one China” principle based on UN Resolution 2758. The ministry said that Somalia is misinterpreting the resolution under China’s instigation, creating a false impression that Taiwan is subordinate to China. The Somali Civil Aviation Authority told airlines on Tuesday last week that starting today, any passengers with passports or travel documents issued from Taiwan or its affiliated institutions would not be allowed to enter or transit through Somalia. The decision comes as Taiwan is boosting
RSS