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Transition date to voluntary military service undecided: premier

ROC Central News Agency

2011/03/28 21:57:08

By Hsieh Chia-chen and Ann Chen

Taipei, March 28 (CNA) The government has yet to find a way to finance its goal of mobilizing an all-volunteer army by 2014, making it uncertain when the goal might be achieved, Premier Wu Den-yih said Monday.

The final date for the transition from a military service system based on conscription to a volunteer force has yet to be decided, Wu said after hearing a Ministry of National Defense briefing on the current status of the move toward an all-volunteer army.

President Ma Ying-jeou pledged during his presidential election campaign in 2008 that Taiwan would complete the implementation of an all-volunteer military by 2014 and that the military budget would be equal to at least 3 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

But Taiwan's 2011 military budget stood at around NT$290 billion (US$9.8 billion) , which represents only 2 percent of the country's GDP, Wu said.

To address the issue of inadequate military spending, the Ministry of National Defense has asked for a 2012 budget of at least NT$325 billion, and savings will come from downsizing of military personnel, Wu said, with the military's manpower to be cut by 9,200 people this year.

The premier also said that available extra land and military dormitories could be used to raise additional revenues.