The army has set up new battalions under the 6th, 8th and 10th corps to handle training of new recruits and reservists, the Ministry of National Defense said, denying reports that it is expanding forces.
Members of the battalions come from the corps’ officer training programs and are part of an ongoing project to increase training capacity for new recruits and reservists, the ministry said, adding that the battalions are under the direct command of the corps’ commanding lieutenant general.
The move is not an expansion of the army, Army Command Headquarters added.
Reform of the reservist system includes maintaining the combat readiness of reservists, who are grouped into three categories — coastal defense, urban garrison and key target defense forces, the ministry’s 2021 Quadrennial Defense Review says.
The newly established battalions are tasked with training new recruits and arranging reservist training, while serving as key target area defense forces in time of war, the military’s Youth Daily News said.
The second battalion under the Kinmen Garrison Force, which handles training of new recruits and reservists, will also be tasked with coastal defense in times of war, the ministry said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), a member of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, said that the move was in line with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) directive to ensure that combat-readiness training remains as close to real combat as possible.
Setting up the battalions was in line with what officer training camps would be like during wartime, he said, adding that how effective the training regimen is remains to be seen.
The new battalions are smaller and easier to maneuver than a brigade, and can better defend key areas, Institute for National Defense and Security Research postdoctoral researcher Sheu Jyh-shyang (許智翔) said.
The battalion’s composition — serving officers commanding new recruits or reservists — is less suited to direct assault missions and more suited to defense, he said.
Such battalions would require supporting forces if assigned to coastal defense roles, as they would not be suited to singlehandedly defend a coastal region, he added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the