Despite efforts to streamline the armed forces, the nation’s 215,000-strong military is still too large at 0.9 percent of the total population, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said.
Meeting yesterday with Robert Willard, former head of US Pacific Command from 2009 to 2012, Ma said that a ratio of 0.6 percent to 0.7 percent of the population was enough to ensure sufficient defensive capabilities.
The figures, which translate into a force of between 143,000 and 167,000 servicepeople, are lower than those announced by the Ministry of National Defense earlier this year.
The ministry has said its goal is to trim down the military from 2015 to 2019 to eventually produce a professional fighting force of between 170,000 and 190,000 personnel.
Ma explained Taiwan’s efforts to adjust the organization of its defense apparatus and restructure the military to Willard, who is in Taiwan as head of a delegation, the Seattle-based think tank National Bureau of Asian Research.
The Republic of China had a force of 600,000 when the government moved from China to Taiwan in 1949, Ma said. Recent streamlining efforts reduced armed forces personnel to 450,000 in 1998 before the number eventually dropped to the current 215,000, he said.
Ma also reiterated the government’s determination to shift to an all-volunteer force.
He listed incentives like higher pay for volunteer soldiers and non-commissioned officers and opportunities to learn skills that are transferable to the civilian workplace.
However, the shift has been marked with hiccups, as disappointing recruitment numbers have forced the military to push back the implementation of an all-volunteer force from 2015 to 2017.
To hit the 2017 goal, the armed forces will need to recruit more than 10,000 servicepeople annually in 2015 and 2016, and about 7,000 in 2017, Minister of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to