New draftees in armed forces to spend less time in service

This article was written by Cecilia Fanchiang and published by the Taiwan Journal on October 28, 2005. It reports that starting from 2006, male citizens in Taiwan will no longer have to spend 18 months doing their compulsory military service.

The new regulations introduced by the Ministry of National Defense require that new draftees in Taiwan's armed forces will now only have to serve 16 months in uniform. The ministry aims to reduce the military service term to just 12 months by 2008.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense plans to cut more than 9,000 positions for junior commissioned officers. But an additional 2,000 noncommissioned members will be recruited as part of the government's efforts to reduce the nation's unemployment rate.

Currently, up to 150,000 young Taiwanese men are drafted for military duty every year, while the army only requires 120,000 regular fighting men.

The new regulations to reduce the period of time required serving in the compulsory military service are part of the Ministry of Defense's streamlining program, which began in 1997. The ministry aims to further improve the management of Taiwan's armed forces, in order to ensure that all the tasking requirements are met and that soldiers receive the appropriate training.