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Military to launch voluntary reservist training, also open to women

ROC Central News Agency

01/17/2023 02:56 PM

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Taiwan's military announced on Tuesday that it would soon allow reservists to voluntarily enroll in its dual-track reservist training, which would also be open to female reservists.

The voluntary program, which will be launched in the second quarter of this year, will be the first time that Taiwan's military will include discharged female military personnel in its reservist training program.

The military currently runs a dual-track reservist training program that began in 2022 with a comparatively small number of reservists undergoing two weeks of intensive training twice in eight years, while the majority undergo a five- to seven-day regimen four times in eight years. Volunteer reservists in the new program will be able to choose whether to undertake one- or two-week training.

For the current mandatory reservist training, only male reservists are required to join and participation is decided by a lottery draw.

Major General Yu Wen-cheng (俞文鎮), a division head in the defense ministry's All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency, told a press briefing that the military's upcoming voluntary training will be open to around 500 male reservists and around 200 female counterparts.

Also, to encourage reservists who have already completed the required maximum four stints of mandatory training in eight years to join the new voluntary program, the military will give a NT$5,000 (US$164.81) one-time bonus to each person who joins the program for a fifth round of training, according to Yu.

Those who want to join the voluntary program can log on to the All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency's website to sign up or visit nearby reserve commands or reservist service centers, he added.

Previously, Taiwan's military said it only trained male reservists because it did not have sufficient training capacity to accommodate both males and females, which reservist training participants have argued about for decades as being a form of gender discrimination.

While men in Taiwan are required to take part in compulsory military conscription and reservist training, females can join the armed forces voluntarily to serve as soldiers and officers.

As of 2021, 8,915 women were listed as reservists. Among Taiwan's 180,000 active military personnel, 15 percent of them are women, according to military figures.

(By Joseph Yeh)

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