Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to military regulations that would automatically incorporate retired female officers and noncommissioned officers into the armed forces reserves.
DPP Legislator Lee Po-yi (李柏毅) sponsored the bill to amend Article 55 of the Act of Military Service for Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍軍官士官服役條例), with 15 DPP legislators cosigning it.
Under the current version of the act, commissioned and noncommissioned female military officers can become reservists, but they are not required to do so, except for those who joined through military academies or universities before 1997.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The DPP lawmakers said they proposed the amendment to bolster military reserves, promote equality and bring provisions in line with a new system for refresher training for reservists.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) yesterday expressed support for the bill, calling it unfair to require only men who served in the military to join the reserves.
“Men and women have physiological differences, but their ability and obligation to serve the nation is the same,” Hsu said.
The unequal treatment for men and women under the law is from a different time, KMT Legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) said, adding that she supports the proposal to make the regulations conform to modern values of equality.
“Even so, it is more important to the welfare of the people that national security is protected comprehensively through measures that support regional peace,” she said.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Chen Chao-tzu (陳昭姿) said she would support the bill, as citizens have a constitutional obligation serve in the military.
The proposed measure would have a limited effect on increasing the number of reservists the nation can call to arms, as women comprise a small minority of military service members, TPP Legislator Lin Yi-chuan (林憶君) said.
Last year, women made up 10 percent of retiring military officers, 14 percent of retiring noncommissioned officers and 12 percent of enlisted personnel, Lin said.
Since 2021, 8,915 women have become reservists, but only 3,086 were volunteers, meaning 65 percent did not want to serve, she said.
If adopted, the amendment would increase the number of unwilling reservists, which would likely have a negative effect on morale and erode combat effectiveness, Lin said.
“The Ministry of National Defense should not think that changing the law to compel military service is a work-around for not being able to inspire service members to join the reserves,” she said.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu
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