Reservists would soon be allowed to voluntarily enroll in dual-track reservist training, which would also be open to female reservists, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
The voluntary program, to be launched in the second quarter, would be the first time that the military has included discharged female military personnel in its reservist training program.
The military runs a dual-track reservist training program that began last year with a comparatively small number of reservists undergoing two weeks of intensive training twice in eight years, while the majority undergo a five-to-seven-day regimen four times in eight years.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Volunteer reservists in the new program would be able to choose one or two-week training.
For the current training, only male reservists are required to join, with participation decided by a lottery.
Major General Yu Wen-cheng (俞文鎮), a division head of the ministry’s All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency, told a news conference that the new voluntary training would be open to about 500 male reservists and about 200 females.
To encourage reservists who have already completed the required maximum four stints of mandatory training in eight years to join the new voluntary program, the military would give a NT$5,000 one-time bonus to each person who joins the program for a fifth round of training, Yu said.
Those who want to join the voluntary program can log on to the All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency’s Web site to sign up or visit a reserve command or reservist service center, he said.
Previously, the military said it only trained male reservists because it did not have sufficient training capacity to accommodate men and women.
While men are required to take part in compulsory military conscription and reservist training, women can join the armed forces voluntarily to serve as soldiers or officers.
As of 2021, 8,915 women were listed as reservists. Among Taiwan’s 180,000 active military personnel, 15 percent are women, military data showed.
The ministry also gave more details on its planned acquisition of anti-tank munitions, following fears that a proposed purchase of Volcano mine-dispensing systems from the US would litter Taiwan with landmines.
The army would only lay mines on potential landing sites, Army Chief of Staff Chang Yuan-hsun (章元勳) told reporters.
The Volcano system — vehicle-launched anti-tank munition-laying systems and M977A4 HEMTT 10-tonne trucks — were part of a US$180 million package approved by the US Department of State on Dec. 28.
The mines are “smart” and have a digital timer for self-destruction, mitigating worries that they would affect noncombatants, Chang said, adding that the mines are not buried, making them easier to spot.
This would make mine removal after combat much easier and worries about collateral damage — as there has been with older mines buried in Kinmen County — are unnecessary.
The mines would not be deployed “half a year” before an invasion, instead waiting until a landing attack has been confirmed, he said.
The army would be fully responsible for the mine-laying system and would endeavor to minimize the potential of accidental injuries, he added.
Additional reporting by Aaron Tu
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
RSS