The duration of mandatory military service in Taiwan should be tripled, former minister of national defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) on Friday.
Tsai made the remarks after Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) earlier on Friday told lawmakers at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei that he is mulling the issue.
Taiwanese men are required to undergo four months of military training.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
However, the duration of the service should be increased to one year, Tsai said, adding that this would allow the minimum amount of training so reservists would be effective if called upon to fight.
The mandatory service is not an efficient use of time in its current form, as four months of training is barely enough to acclimate conscripts to military life, he said.
It takes six additional months to learn the basics of military operations and weapons handling, he said.
Although military service is unpopular among young voters, longer service terms are necessary for Taiwan to protect itself against the threat of Chinese aggression, he said.
Israel, South Korea and Singapore have longer mandatory military conscription terms to augment their defensive capabilities, Tsai said, adding that serving in the armed forces is a duty stipulated by the Constitution.
“If President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration puts votes before the defense of the nation, then Taiwan faces a precarious future,” he said.
Retired army major general Richard Hu (胡瑞舟), who is a researcher at the Taiwan Center for Security Studies, said that alternative service — where men spend their mandatory military service in areas other than regular training — should be rolled back to enlarge the armed forces.
As there is an escalating threat to national security from China, increasing the number of conscripts would bolster the army and create a deeper reservoir of reserve forces in the event of war, Hu said.
However, the military must also examine the poor training regimen that had been established, he said, adding that more of the scientific methodologies and experience from other modern militaries could be used in Taiwan.
Improving the quality of military training programs should take precedence over lengthening mandatory service, he said.
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