The implementation date for an all-volunteer military has been pushed back two years from 2015 to 2017 because of recruitment difficulties, the Ministry of National Defense announced yesterday at a press conference.
The military was scheduled to shift to an all-volunteer force by the end of next year. However, the ministry has experienced difficulties recruiting sufficient volunteers in the past 20 months since the Executive Yuan approved the plan last year and has been forced to defer implementation.
The Executive Yuan has approved the ministry’s revised plan, which would men born before Dec. 31, 1993, to serve a one-year mandatory military service, with those born after Jan. 1, 1994 receiving a four-month basic military training, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major-General David Lo (羅紹和) said.
Photo: CNA
Those who were born before Dec. 31, 1993, had only been required for substitute services, but now are needed to fill the personnel shortage.
An all-volunteer military has been one of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) most important campaign pledges.
The ministry had planned to cut the size of the military from 235,000 to 215,000, of which 176,000 would be volunteers, by 2015.
The ministry was concerned that the nation’s armed forces would not be sufficiently strong to carry out their duties of safeguarding the nation and disaster relief if volunteer recruitment continued to fall short of the original goal.
Its recruitment has been further hampered by the case of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), who died following alleged abuse at a military detention facility in July, triggering a protest by about 250,000 people last month demanding reform of the military.
Wang Tien-de (王天德), director of the ministry’s Department of Resources Planning, estimated that 60,000 draftees would be affected.
Wang denied that plans to create an all-volunteer military had failed, reiterating that the ministry is still working toward reaching that goal.
Draftees born before Dec. 31, 1993, could still apply for alternative non-military community service, but they could have to go through a draw, said Tsai Ching-chih (蔡清治), director of Draft Division of the National Conscription Agency.
The ministry said it believed benefits and welfare for military personnel would have to be increased to provide extra incentive for those who are interested in a military career.
Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers have criticized Ma for violating his campaign pledge, with Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) saying that Ma’s poor leadership as commander-in-chief was why the military had become notorious for its low morale and mismanagement, which had subsequently resulted in recruitment problems.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said that deferring the implementation date for an all-volunteer military would only be a temporary remedy to address personnel shortages.
“In the long run the ministry will still have to find a solution [to the lack of recruits], otherwise the problem will resurface in two years’ time,” Lin said.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said yesterday. When Philippine forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) on Saturday due to bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help, but later saw that the ship had been extricated, Philippine navy regional spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among
RSS