Residents from Hong Kong and Macau might soon be able to register as volunteer soldiers after living in Taiwan for 10 years under amendments proposed by the Ministry of National Defense.
The Act of Military Service for Volunteer Enlisted Soldiers (志願士兵服役條例) currently requires people from China and the two territories to have a household registration in Taiwan for at least 20 years before they can enroll as a volunteer soldier.
The changes would halve the requirement for people from Hong Kong and Macau, while keeping it the same for residents originally from China.
Photo: Reuters
The time period was selected considering language in the Laws and Regulations Regarding Hong Kong and Macau Affairs (香港澳門關係條例), the ministry said.
Under the law, residents from the territories are barred from registering as candidates for public office, serving in the military or organizing political parties if they have not maintained a household residence for 10 years.
The amendment would also remove the phrase “physical weakness” from the criteria for being retired from active duty, the ministry said, citing imprecise language.
If removed, it would leave “illness and injury” as criteria for retirement.
In other news, former chief of the general staff Lee Hsi-min (李喜明) on Friday said that Taiwan should overhaul its reservist training system to create a more effective military reserve force, rather than maintaining one that is large, but “not so useful.”
Although Taiwan has a 2 million-strong military reserve force, it does not have sufficient equipment, weapons, or trainers for such numbers, which makes the system not particularly useful, said Lee, who served as chief of the general staff from 2017 to 2019.
One way to improve the existing reservist system is to adopt Singapore’s method of requiring reservists to undergo monthly training conducted over one weekend, in addition to having them attend a 14-day annual training program, the review said.
A highly mobile and well-trained reserve force would help to alleviate pressure on the military when trying to maintain a sizable regular force, but to achieve that goal would require reforms to be implemented, Lee said.
He recommended introducing an all-voluntary reserve force system and having volunteers attend a special forces training program, in addition to equipping them with portable weapons such as suicide drones or shoulder-mounted Stinger and Javelin missiles.
If one out of 10 active reservists volunteered, the armed forces would have a 200,000-strong reserve force, which when dispersed across Taiwan would be a formidable deterrent, especially if they operate as guerrillas, Lee said.
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
DEFENSE: This month’s shipment of 38 modern M1A2T tanks would begin to replace the US-made M60A3 and indigenous CM11 tanks, whose designs date to the 1980s The M1A2T tanks that Taiwan expects to take delivery of later this month are to spark a “qualitative leap” in the operational capabilities of the nation’s armored forces, a retired general told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview published yesterday. On Tuesday, the army in a statement said it anticipates receiving the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the US, out of 108 tanks ordered, in the coming weeks. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is a generation ahead of the Taiwanese army’s US-made M60A3 and indigenously developed CM11 tanks, which have
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to attempt an invasion of Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s time in office, Taiwanese and foreign academics said on Friday. Trump is set to begin his second term early next year. Xi’s ambition to establish China as a “true world power” has intensified over the years, but he would not initiate an invasion of Taiwan “in the near future,” as his top priority is to maintain the regime and his power, not unification, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University distinguished visiting professor and contemporary Chinese politics expert Akio Takahara said. Takahara made the comment at a
RSS