Wed, Mar 30, 2011 page3

• Delay to end conscription could affect 110,000 men

  BROKEN: If an all-volunteer military isn’t implemented by 2015, the DPP says it would represent another broken promise made by Ma when he campaigned for president

  • By Vincent Y. Chao / Staff Reporter
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  The government’s admission that a campaign promise to phase out conscription by 2015 is in danger of being delayed could affect tens of thousands of draft-age men nationwide in the next few years, legislators said yesterday.

  Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) on Monday said the government was finding it “difficult” to implement an all-volunteer force because of financial constraints. Yesterday, he said there were some issues that needed to be addressed before an all-volunteer force could be achieved by 2015.

  On reports about a possible postponement to 2016, Wu said: “It’s a one-year difference and during this time we can overcome those issues.”

  Any delay in the phasing out of military conscription would impact about 110,000 draft-age men eligible for service annually before 2014, the Ministry of National Defense said.

  Defense officials had previously announced that male Republic of China citizens born after 1995 would not have to perform the current one year of military service and would only be required to undergo four months of basic training.

  However, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers studying the issue said this could change if a conscription halt was pushed back to 2016 or after.

  “It’s going to change the plans of all these students who are just beginning to look forward to the end of conscription and are revising their life plans,” DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said.

  “All these kids and their parents had pinned their hopes on this plan, but it looks like this promise will be broken,” she said.

  Draft-age males between 19 and 35 have to fulfill their service in either the military or, in certain conditions, in government agencies after graduation from high school or university. Exemptions are made for health issues and other considerations.

  Pouncing on the possible delay, DPP lawmakers said this could be the second time President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has broken a prominent campaign promise.

  During the election campaign in 2008, Ma vowed to keep the unemployment rate below 3 percent and annual economic growth above 6 percent, which he said would lead to a per capita income of US$30,000 by 2016.

  The government first announced its plan to end conscription in 2008 as part of a campaign pledge to create an all-volunteer force “within four to six years.”

  However, it has failed to reach volunteer recruitment targets amid stagnating budget levels that have fallen short of Ma’s promise of 3 percent GDP.

  In 2009, volunteers in the military accounted for about 55.6 percent, or 133,000 of 239,000 uniformed personnel. The government plans to reduce the nation’s armed forces to 215,000.

  A ministry spokesperson yesterday said the ministry still believed it could meet its target by the end of 2014.

  At a different setting, Wu told the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club that one means to address the financial constraints that have haunted efforts to create an all-volunteer military would be to sell vacant plots of land owned by the ministry.

  However, this would only account for part of the budget and the government was exploring other possibilities, he said.

  Vice Premier Sean Chen had been asked to look into the matter, Wu said.

  Additional reporting by J. Michael Cole
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