DPP lawmakers proposed cutting the number of soldiers yesterday and shortening the term for compulsory military service to nine months in a bid to make more efficient use of limited defense resources.
"By doing so, an estimated NT$26 billion to NT$36 billion could be saved. The money could be used to purchase state-of-the-art high-tech military equipment, train military personnel and maintain equipment," said DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (
Lee made the remark yesterday morning during a joint press conference held at the legislature by DPP legislators Tuan Yi-kang (
As the military currently has about 385,000 conscripts and volunteer soldiers, Tuan proposed cutting the number to about 256,000, with the army making most of the reductions.
According to Tuan, the army makes up 51 percent, or over 199,000, of total military manpower, costing the government over NT$142 billion a year in salary expenses, or about 54 percent of the annual defense budget.
The navy takes up about 15 percent, or about 56,000, of total manpower, the air force accounts for over 14 percent, or about 55,000, and non-combat personnel over 19 percent.
The ideal number for the navy and the air force, Tuan said, would be 50,000 each.
Although the Ministry of National Defense has planned to scale down the number of soldiers from 385,000 to 340,000 by 2006 and to 300,000 by 2012, Tuan said that the plan might actually serve to increase expenses.
"It's estimated the plan will cost the government about NT$7.8 billion more a year than it does now because the percentage of volunteer soldiers would increase from the current 36 percent to 60 percent," Tuan said.
It would cost an additional NT$24.7 billion if the ministry goes ahead with a plan to give volunteer soldiers a raise of NT$5,000 a month.
To help the military save money, Tuan also proposed shortening compulsory military service from the 22 months to nine months.
The ministry has planned to reduce compulsory service to 14 months by 2006 and to 11 months by 2012.
Although the Cabinet plans to spend NT$700 billion on military procurement over the next 10 years, Chen said that the military should use its limited resources with caution and efficiency.
"With resources limited, it's important to reduce the total number of soldiers, upgrade maintenance capability and personnel training, and purchase more state-of-the-art high-tech defense systems," Chen said.
According to Chen, the military spends an average of NT$54 billion a year on equipment maintenance, or about 20 percent of the annual defense budget.
Arms procurement, costing about NT$58 billion a year, takes up about 22 percent of the annual defense budget.
Hsiao called on the government to take heed of developments in the international political climate to establish an effective military strategy, especially in light of the US-led war in Iraq.
"Developments in international security have changed dramatically since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US. The US-led war against Iraq is also expected to impact the international climate," she said.
Hsiao predicted that the US would keep its position as the world's sole superpower if it eventually wins the war in Iraq.
"However, it might not interfere in international affairs as aggressively as it does now if it loses the war," she said. "Regional powers would then emerge to dominate regional peace."
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
RSS