According to the Ministry of National Defense, the scheme is scheduled to commence in 2010 and will annually reduce the proportion of conscripts from its current level of 40 percent until an all-volunteer force is achieved by 2013. Previously, the MND had aimed to boost the percentage of full-time personnel in Taiwan's armed forces to 60 by 2008. Pursuant to this policy, the period of compulsory military service was cut from 16 months to 12 months.
With the outline calling for the number of troops to be eventually reduced to around 200,000 from today's 300,000 plus, the minister stated that further preparation for financing military spending and restructuring the armed forces is needed.
The MND's preliminary plan requires volunteers to serve four years, with an option to apply for noncommissioned officer after completing the first year of service. The proposed monthly pay for a volunteer will be double the minimum wage established by the government, which is currently US$562. The rate is higher than the salary earned by a private who serves voluntarily, which is US$908 at present.
Nevertheless, males who opt not to volunteer will still be subject to three to four months of basic military training, Chen said. Those not enrolled at a tertiary institution will receive three months of training when they reach military age, whereas those that are will have to complete the training in their summer vacations.
Based on the Constitution, the recruitment system for Taiwan's military is the conscription-oriented model, and the Military Service Act makes it compulsory for all healthy males to complete a term of service at the earliest available opportunity between Jan. 1 of the year immediately following the year of their 18th birthday and Dec. 31 of the year of their 36th birthday.
The act was revised in 2005 to allow young men who have reached the age of 18 to enlist as professional soldiers upon graduation. Formerly, it was necessary to first undertake compulsory military service before being able to join the armed forces voluntarily.
The Implementation Act for Substitute Service, enacted in 2000, allows draftees to apply for substitute service in place of military service, according to their interests or special skills. The substitute service, which still involves a short period of basic military training, takes two forms: general, and research and development.
For the general form of service, draftees can work in such areas as domestic security (police and firefighters), social service and other fields like land surveying and justice administration. Draftees in the research and development category can serve in MND-approved government agencies, public and private research centers, as well as universities and colleges (for postdoctoral students only) for three to three and a half years.
Interior Minister Liao Liou-yi said that participation in substitute service would still be necessary even after the country's armed forces consists only of volunteers and expressed hope that the substitute-service program would remain in the future. Taiwan has currently around 16,000 conscripts who are in substitute service, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Liao argued that this option prevents wastage of human resources and time. "For example, allowing substitute service draftees to work at local technology companies can fulfill both the companies' needs for technology and manpower, while helping draftees keep their skills up to date," he said.
But the government's latest initiative--in keeping with President Ma Ying-jeou's raft of election campaign promises made in the run-up to the presidential contest held earlier this year--has met with mixed reactions. Opposition Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Chai Trong-rong stated Aug. 1 that the defense ministry should first solve existing problems before adopting an all-volunteer force. "The military needs to reform aspects of its culture so as to attract better qualified recruits," he said.
Other parliamentarians also voiced their opinions. Ruling Kuomintang Legislator Ting Shou-chung and Tsai Huang-liang from the DPP both support the all-volunteer system, but stated it would be unnecessary to maintain short-term training for those who do not want to volunteer.
Tsai explained that while he backed the proposal in principle, he believed that three to four months of military training is too long. If possible, he added, the Constitution should be amended to cancel the stipulation of compulsory service. Article 20 of the Constitution of the Republic of China stipulates that the people shall have the duty to render military service in accordance with the law.
KMT lawmaker Chang Hsien-yao was of a different opinion. He pointed out that in order to maintain the country's reserve force at full-fighting strength, basic military training is essential.
Write to Edwin Hsiao at edwinhsiao@mail.gio.gov.tw