The Ministry of National Defense yesterday told lawmakers it was not withdrawing military forces from Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu but was planning on restructuring manpower on the three outlying islands, Deputy Minister of National Defense Chang Liang-jen (張良任) said yesterday.
Chang made the remarks at the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee in response to lawmakers’ questions.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) quoted an unnamed military source yesterday as saying that Taiwan intended to cut troop numbers on Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu by half.
BOOST
The move would leave 10,000 troops on the islands. The official reason for the troop reduction was to boost military defense on Taiwan proper, which has been weakened following several reductions in military manpower.
The troop reduction on the three islands is pending approval from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the source was quoted as saying.
In the 1950s, Taiwan stationed some 125,000 troops on Kinmen and Matsu to block Chinese troops from seizing the two islets as stepping stones to invade Taiwan. The less-sensitive Penghu Islands are a group of 64 islets halfway between Taiwan and China.
“This isn’t an issue of troop reduction, only an issue of the adjustment of military structure, and that adjustment is part of the four-year military review submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to the legislature on March 16,” Chang told the Foreign and National Defense Committee yesterday.
WITHDRAWAL
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said that if the total number of soldiers at the three locations were reduced to less than 10,000, it would be tantamount to the ministry ordering a complete withdrawal.
“We are planning to reduce our manpower, not pull out,” Chang replied, adding that a final decision had yet to be reached.
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