The first batch of about 500 reservists yesterday reported to Shanjiao Elementary School in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District (蘆竹) to undergo a new, more intensive 14-day reservist training program.
The program is operating in a scenario of defending the beach near New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), said 203 Brigade Third Infantry Battalion Deputy Commander Major Chen Ming-chung (陳明中).
All reservists would train for about 10 hours a day, including a two-hour, 10km nighttime combat march, for a total of 136 hours over 14 days, Chen said.
Photo: Military News Agency
Reservists said that the schedule — described by local media as “the toughest reservist training in history” — was daunting, but that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia demonstrates that tougher reservist training is necessary.
No one knows when China might attack Taiwan, underscoring the necessity for a reservist force capable of fighting, one reservist said.
Reservists must be capable of fighting when called upon, as demonstrated by the suddenness of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, another said.
Photo: Hsieh Wu-hsiung, Taipei Times
A reservist surnamed Chou (周) said that the military should first step up the training for active soldiers.
It felt “odd” that the military would step up training for reservists, who have never undergone full military training to begin with, he said.
Commenting on concerns about reservists’ nutrition during the march, the Ministry of National Defense said that they would be provided with dried rations and ready-to-eat meal packages.
Reservists would only be allowed to use their mobile phones twice a day, from 7pm to 8pm and from 9pm to 10pm, during the two weeks.
All of the Central Epidemic Command Center’s COVID-19 pandemic prevention regulations would be observed, said Lee Meng-han (李孟涵), the battalion’s medical officer.
The reservists were yesterday given a quick recap of camp regulations, were assigned patrol and guard duties, and underwent disaster-prevention drills and first-aid training, their schedule showed.
Today and tomorrow, they would revisit military occupational specialty training, arms disassembly and assembly, and combat first-aid, the schedule showed.
All units under company level would be practicing marksmanship and combat from day four to day 10.
Days 11 to 13 would focus on battalion-level combat training, while reservists would on the last day service their arms and return them before the official conclusion of the program.
The new training regimen would be tested in the first three quarters of this year on about 15,000 reservists at 24 battalions and one company, Ministry of National Defense All-out Defense Mobilization Agency Director Yu Wen-cheng (俞文鎮) said on Wednedsay.
It was devised after the military in 2020 said that it wanted to ensure that the nation’s reserve force could more reliably back up regular forces due to increased Chinese military maneuvers around Taiwan.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Wednesday said that a new chip manufacturing technology called “A16” is to enter production in the second half of 2026, setting up a showdown with longtime rival Intel over who can make the fastest chips. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of advanced computing chips and a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, announced the news at a conference in Santa Clara, California, where TSMC executives said that makers of artificial intelligence (AI) chips will likely be the first adopters of the technology rather than a smartphone maker. Analysts said that the technologies announced on
NO RECIPROCITY: Taipei has called for cross-strait group travel to resume fully, but Beijing is only allowing people from its Fujian Province to travel to Matsu, the MAC said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday criticized an announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism that it would lift a travel ban to Taiwan only for residents of China’s Fujian Province, saying that the policy does not meet the principles of reciprocity and openness. Chinese Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Rao Quan (饒權) yesterday morning told a delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in a meeting in Beijing that the ministry would first allow Fujian residents to visit Lienchiang County (Matsu), adding that they would be able to travel to Taiwan proper directly once express ferry
CALL FOR DIALOGUE: The president-elect urged Beijing to engage with Taiwan’s ‘democratically elected and legitimate government’ to promote peace President-elect William Lai (賴清德) yesterday named the new heads of security and cross-strait affairs to take office after his inauguration on May 20, including National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to be the new defense minister and former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as minister of foreign affairs. While Koo is to head the Ministry of National Defense and presidential aide Lin is to take over as minister of foreign affairs, Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) would be retained as the nation’s intelligence chief, continuing to serve as director-general of the National Security Bureau, Lai told a news conference in Taipei. Koo,
MANAGING DIFFERENCES: In a meeting days after the US president signed a massive foreign aid bill, Antony Blinken raised concerns with the Chinese president about Taiwan US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the US and China as the two sides butt heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues, including Taiwan and the South China Sea. Talks between the two sides have increased over the past few months, even as differences have grown. Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about Taiwan and the South China Sea, along with China’s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues