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Military to present report this year on extending military service

ROC Central News Agency

03/23/2022 04:19 PM

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) Taiwan's defense ministry will present an evaluation report within this year on whether or not to extend the existing four-month mandatory military training for conscripts, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said on Wednesday.

If the evaluation recommends extending the service period, the proposal will still have to be approved by the central government and put on public notice for one year before taking effect, Chiu added.

Chiu, meanwhile, said he personally believed that the existing four-month-training period was "inadequate" to properly train a man to become a qualified solider to defend the country if a cross-strait war broke out.

The minister made the comments during a Legislative hearing when asked by lawmakers on how soon the military would decide whether to extend the training period and when the new rule would take effect.

Lawmakers across party lines have recently been calling on the Ministry of Defense (MND) to do so amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine after having seen Ukrainians putting up a resilient resistance against the much more numerous invaders.

Earlier this month, the Presidential Office said the MND was taking all factors into consideration but no final decision on extending the four-month training period has been made yet.

All Taiwanese men over 18 initially had to serve two to three years in the military as part of a conscription system adopted by the Republic of China government after it relocated to Taiwan in 1949 following the end of the Chinese Civil War.

Over the years, the conscription period in Taiwan was gradually reduced to one year by 2008.

During the previous Kuomintang (KMT) administration under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), which ruled from 2008-2016, the government announced it would turn the nation's armed forces into a fully voluntary one in which conscripts would only need to undergo four months of military training starting from 2013.

The nation's military is currently a mainly volunteer force, with conscripts serving in a supporting role.

Meanwhile, Chiu also announced on Wednesday that this year's annual Min-An evacuation drill would for the first time simulate an evacuation during a missile attack.

Chiu told lawmakers that the decision to simulate evacuation measures following missile attack at this year's May 5 drill was inspired by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow has been launching cruise and hypersonic missiles targeting Ukrainian military assets as it steps up its military offensive in its ongoing invasion of the ex-Soviet state.

(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/HY