The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it is on track to meet its recruitment target for career soldiers, in line with the government’s plan to turn the armed forces into an all-volunteer service by 2016.
There has been a steady growth in the number of young people applying to military academies to become professional soldiers and officers in recent years, said General Liu Jing-zhong (劉靖中), director of the ministry’s Human Resources Division.
Liu said that from the start of the year to this month, 28,502 men and women signed up for the volunteer training program, from which the ministry recruited 11,970 individuals — exceeding its target of 10,557 for the whole year.
Liu made the pronouncement following reports that the military has had problems recruiting people, sparking concern that the nation would not be able to maintain a sufficient fighting force to defend itself.
“Streamlining the nation’s military has been ongoing, and changes were made with new incentives and complementary measures,” Liu said.
“Thus, more young people are willing to pursue a military career,” he added.
As of the first week of this month, the total number of volunteers reached more than 32,000, the general said.
With the number growing steadily, the government’s plan to terminate the compulsory military service program and replace it with an all-volunteer force of professional soldiers should be achievable by the end of 2016, he said.
Liu added that it would not be necessary to recruit foreign soldiers, because the nation has a sufficiently large military force that is combat-ready and able to carry out all of the tasks it has been mandated to do.
He was responding to a proposal by Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安), who last week said that if a shortage in the military could not be filled, the ministry could recruit sub-Saharan Africans to form a mercenary force to prepare for wartime combat.
The general said that the military would not recruit foreign mercenaries from Africa or anywhere else, because the nation’s soldiers must be Republic of China citizens and fulfill household registration and other legal requirements.
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
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
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