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Taiwan's 1st group of volunteer female reservists report for military exercises

ROC Central News Agency

07/24/2023 02:02 PM

Taoyuan, July 24 (CNA) A group of 19 female veterans reported to a location in northern Taoyuan City to start five days of volunteer reservist training on Monday morning, which coincides with the ongoing five-day live-fire part of the annual Han Kuang series of military exercises.

This makes them the first female reservists to undergo reservist training during Han Kuang, the nation's largest annual wargames that involve all military branches.

The 19 reservists reported to Yang Mei Junior High School in Taoyuan's Yangmei District on Monday morning.

The highest-ranking reservists among them are discharged Army's lieutenants and sergeant majors, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).

They specialized in transportation, personnel, intelligence, communications, political warfare, automobile driving, missile launching, radar operation, replenishment and food service, while they were on active duty, the MND said.

These female reservists will be trained to be responsible for logistics, resupply and administration missions during wartime, it added.

The 19 women are among a total of 120-plus reservists that will report to the Yang Mei Junior High School on Monday for the five-day reservist training.

The women will undergo the same training as their male counterparts during the five-day program, according to the MND.

Taiwan's military announced in January that it would start asking female reservists to volunteer for the same reservist training as their male counterparts later this year.

The first group of 14 female veterans underwent such training this May.

Previously, Taiwan's military said it only trained male reservists because it did not have sufficient capacity to accommodate both men and women.

Participants in reservist training have complained for decades that this is a form of gender discrimination.

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

The MND did not say it is now requiring military training for female reservists because of an increased risk of war with China, but rather that it is doing so because all veterans regardless of gender should have the same responsibility.

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 said that a total of 220 female reservists have volunteered to undergo required reservists training this year.

The live-fire component of this year's Han Kuang military exercises kicked off early Monday with the focus of the first day drills on testing the military's preservation and maintenance of combat capabilities in the event of a full-scale Chinese invasion.

The annual Han Kuang exercises, which have served as Taiwan's major war games since 1984, consist of live-fire drills and computerized war games and are meant to test Taiwan's combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.

This year's tabletop exercises were staged in May.

(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)

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