The Ministry of National De-fense (MND) plans to reduce the number of marine corps personnel by half as part of a new wave of streamlining to be launched in 2004, defense sou-rces said yesterday.
The move is also aimed as a gesture of goodwill toward Beijing since the marine corps is the military's main offensive arm, capable of posing a threat to China.
The marine corps now has two brigades and more than 10,000 troops.
The figure comes after the most recent wave of personnel streamlining which was completed last year.
Under the downsizing effort, known as the "Chinshih Pro-ject," the marine corps turned its two divisions into two brigades. The number of troops fell from more than 20,000 to the current level.
In the next wave of personnel reduction, called the "Chinchin Project," the MND plans to reduce by half the number of marine corps personnel.
One of the two brigades of the marine corps is to be deactivated, making it possible for the number of troops to fall below 10,000.
The Taichung-based brigade is the most likely target for deactivation, while the other brigade, based in Kaohsiung, would be left as is.
A defense official, who sp-oke on condition of anonymity, said the brigade in Taichung is expected to be targeted because it is inferior to its counterpart in armament and combat readiness.
"The deactivation plan is now being drafted by the MND. It has yet to be completed and sent to the Executive Yuan for approval," the official said.
"Some twists and turns might happen. Not every naval leader supports the MND's plan to cut the marine corps by half," he said.
"Some navy generals insist that the marine corps should not be greatly reduced since it is the only body that the country can rely on to recover offshore islands taken by the enemy or counter amphibious landings," he said.
If the brigade deactivation plan is put into practice, a large number of officers would be forced into early retirement since there would not likely be any vacancies for them in the corps.
Despite the expected downsizing plan, the marine corps intends to continue with plans to buy new equipment, ranging from the AAAV-7 amphibious landing vehicle to the MH-53 helicopter.
The purchases can likely be accommodated within the downsizing plan since the new equipment could be deployed within one brigade.
The AAAV-7 amphibious landing vehicle, for instance, is to equip only a battalion of troops.
The navy budget proposal for next year includes plans to buy 54 of the landing vehicles.
The vehicles will cost a total of NT$6.1 billion.
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS