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Taiwan to start training 1st group of female reservists Monday

ROC Central News Agency

05/07/2023 06:59 PM

Taipei, May 7 (CNA) Taiwan's military will have a group of female veterans undergo reservist training for the first time starting Monday, a military source told CNA on Sunday.

The veterans will be asked to report to a "strategic location" in Taoyuan's Bade District on Monday to complete the same required reservist training as their male counterparts, but will have separate dormitories and bathrooms, the source said.

While the exact number of female trainees in this first group was not disclosed, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has said it will ask a total of 220 female reservists to undergo compulsory reservist training this year.

As of 2021, a total of 8,915 women were listed as reservists. In addition to the reservists, 15 percent of Taiwan's 180,000 active military personnel are women, according to military figures.

The MND announced in January 2023 that it would begin training female armed reserve forces, after only training male reservists in the past because it did not have sufficient capacity to accommodate both men and women.

While men in Taiwan are required to take part in compulsory military conscription and reservist training, women are not, but they can join the armed forces voluntarily to serve as soldiers and officers.

The military currently runs a dual-track reservist training program, which consists of a new, more intensive 14-day plan, launched last year, and the old system of five to seven days.

According to the MND, it will increase the number of reservists receiving 14 days of training from 15,000 in 2022 to 22,000 in 2023, but 96,000 trainees will still participate in the five-to-seven day maneuvers.

Regardless of the program, the training has been changed to "strategic locations" so that reservists can have a better grasp of the terrain and key infrastructure in the area they are charged with defending.

The change is expected to speed up mobilization and facilitate combat deployments during wartime, the military said.

(By Matt Yu and Lee Hsin-Yin)

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