The military is to form a new reserve mobilization agency while expanding the scope of civilian forces that can be mobilized as part of its efforts to bolster the nation’s reserve forces amid increasing threats from China, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
The ministry made the announcement in a report it sent to lawmakers for review.
The ministry would integrate two existing military agencies — the All-out Defense Mobilization Office and the Armed Forces Reserve Command — into a “defense reserve mobilization agency” by January next year, the report said.
Photo: Tu Chu-min, Taipei Times
The structural change is part of a military reform to make Taiwan’s reserve forces a more reliable backup for regular soldiers in defending the nation, it said.
Chu Sen-tsuen (朱森村) of the All-out Defense Mobilization Office said the military is also working with the Ministry of the Interior in the hope of amending the Civilian Defense Act (民防法) to expand the scope of civilian forces and volunteers the military can call upon during peacetime and war.
The act forms the legal basis for the defense ministry to mobilize civilian forces.
It defines volunteers the defense ministry can mobilize in case of need as volunteer police officers and volunteer firefighters.
The defense ministry hopes the scope can be expanded to include volunteer workers at Buddhist and Taoist temples, as well as churches, to give the military access to extra personnel, Chu said.
Temple and church volunteers have for decades played an important role in offering post-disaster relief, including preparing food and shelter after major natural disasters or emergencies, Chu added.
The defense ministry in February said that starting next year, it would introduce new rules governing the call-up of reservists to improve their combat readiness.
Under the new policy, reservists would undergo two weeks of training rather than the current five to seven days, and could be called up every year instead of the current once every two years.
The new policy is to begin as a limited trial from next year to 2023 before full-scale implementation in 2024.
The military has also extended the period during which reservists can be called up from four times in eight years after being discharged from military service to four times in 12 years, starting this year.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Monday said he would not attend the official Double Ten National Day celebrations for the first time this year, as its English name, “Taiwan National Day,” implies “Taiwan independence.” Writing on Facebook, Ma said he has attended every National Day celebration since entering public service 40 years ago, but “with an exceedingly heavy heart,” has decided to reject this year’s invitation. For the past three years, the government under President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has used “Taiwan National Day” for the event’s official English-language title, leaving the “Republic of China” nowhere to be found, he said. The move
RUNWAY UPGRADES: Airports and ports mainly scattered around southwestern Japan are being given major overhauls, primarily serving as civilian-use facilities Japan has chosen 33 airports and ports as candidates for improvement to enhance military capabilities, with a particular focus on infrastructure that could be utilized in a Taiwan emergency, according to a recent report in Japan’s Nikkei Shimbun. Citing the Japanese government’s fiscal budget proposal for next year, the newspaper said Toyko is to name some facilities as essential bases and receive funding for upgrades in line with the revamped national security strategy published last year. According to an unofficial policy document drafted last month and reviewed by the Nikkei, the Japanese government designated 14 airports and 19 ports for improvement, including
RSS