Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Under his plan, Lien, presidential candidate for the KMT-People First Party (PFP) alliance, said that he hopes the bills governing an all-volunteer military service (志願役軍人服役條例) would be reviewed in the Legislative Yuan by end of the year.
Lien said the passage of the bills would allow the enlistment system to start next year, with the compulsory military system being phased out by 2008.
At a press conference to address his defense policies, Lien denied President Chen Shui-bian's (
"Chen spoke of the enlistment system in his campaign pledge four years ago, yet now, four years have passed and only 200 or so soldiers have enlisted," said Lien, who is running against Chen in the March 20 election.
Slamming Chen for contradicting himself by opposing the KMT-PFP alliance's proposal for an all-volunteer military service, Lien said, "Either Chen was wrong four years ago or he is wrong now."
Lien said the country needed a professional military in today's high-tech era and stressed the importance of quality over quantity in the armed forces.
"Only professional, all-volunteer armed forces with long-term training can resist threats from Communist China," Lien said. "For the others, they need only go through three months of military training to be qualified as reservists and so be included in the nations' reserve armed forces."
Lien said that not only would the enlistment system provide opportunities for young adults who wish to pursue a career in military, his proposal to shorten the length of the military service from the current compulsory 20 months to three months would allow those who are not interested in military service to avoid wasting time in the armed forces.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Wu Nai-jen (
"The country's national security could face a great threat if the system of enlistment is implemented hastily and not enough volunteers enlist," Wu said.
"Lien mentioned nothing about these issues nor any supplementary measures," Wu said. "This indicates that Lien attaches no importance to Taiwan's security and that his proposal is mainly for the sake of the election."
Saying that the DPP also approved of the enlistment system, Wu added that it would take time to make the transition from a conscript system. According to Wu, the Ministry of National Defense had conducted a trial of the enlistment system last year but the result was unsatisfactory as the number of volunteers failed to meet the quota.
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