The Reserve Officers Training Corp (ROTC) program has been an important part of the Ministry of National Defense’s enlistment drive for several years, but Taiwan’s low birthrate complicates efforts to recruit students.
The ministry provides a full subsidy for tuition fees and accommodation, along with miscellaneous expenses for students who enlist for the ROTC program. It also grants a NT$12,000 (US$393) monthly stipend to cover living expenses. Students are not subject to the same constraints on movement that other military recruits experience.
Despite these perks having made the program popular in the past, it has become increasingly difficult over the past few years to recruit new students.
The low birthrate is not only affecting military enlistment, the wider university student recruitment system is also feeling the pinch, which also affects the ROTC’s ability to attract students.
One university that is bucking the trend is the Nanya Institute of Technology, whose ROTC department is the nation’s only civilian military affairs program, which has come back from the brink of closure to thrive once again.
The Nanya Institute not only avails itself of ROTC program subsidies, it also provides subsidies for expenses in the first year of university not covered by ministry grants, so its ROTC students and other military students can complete their studies without financial worries.
In addition, ROTC students on the Nanya course are not required to attend classes on Saturdays, giving them more free time on weekends to follow their own pursuits and even take part-time jobs, as other university students do.
Kaohsiung’s Fooyin University in recent years has also recruited many students through its ROTC enlistment program.
The defense ministry should concentrate its resources on one education institution each in the north, central and southern regions of Taiwan, as well as along the Hualien-Taitung corridor, and make those four schools major ROTC centers.
Promoting those universities and the programs would fend off the negative effect of the nation’s declining population and reinforce Taiwan’s national defense capability.
Chen Hung-hui is a former university military instructor.
Translated by Paul Cooper
A return to power for former US president Donald Trump would pose grave risks to Taiwan’s security, autonomy and the broader stability of the Indo-Pacific region. The stakes have never been higher as China aggressively escalates its pressure on Taiwan, deploying economic, military and psychological tactics aimed at subjugating the nation under Beijing’s control. The US has long acted as Taiwan’s foremost security partner, a bulwark against Chinese expansionism in the region. However, a second Trump presidency could upend decades of US commitments, introducing unpredictability that could embolden Beijing and severely compromise Taiwan’s position. While president, Trump’s foreign policy reflected a transactional
There appears to be a growing view among leaders and leading thinkers in Taiwan that their words and actions have no influence over how China approaches cross-Strait relations. According to this logic, China’s actions toward Taiwan are guided by China’s unwavering ambition to assert control over Taiwan. Many also believe Beijing’s approach is influenced by China’s domestic politics. As the thinking goes, former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) made a good faith effort to demonstrate her moderation on cross-Strait issues throughout her tenure. During her 2016 inaugural address, Tsai sent several constructive signals, including by acknowledging the historical fact of interactions and
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has prioritized modernizing the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to rival the US military, with many experts believing he would not act on Taiwan until the PLA is fully prepared to confront US forces. At the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Party Congress in 2022, Xi emphasized accelerating this modernization, setting 2027 — the PLA’s centennial — as the new target, replacing the previous 2035 goal. US intelligence agencies said that Xi has directed the PLA to be ready for a potential invasion of Taiwan by 2027, although no decision on launching an attack had been made. Whether
HSBC Holdings successfully fought off a breakup campaign by disgruntled Asian investors in recent years. Now, it has announced a restructuring along almost the same east-west lines. The obvious question is why? It says it is designed to create a simpler, more efficient and dynamic company. However, it looks a lot like the bank is also facing up to the political reality of the growing schism between the US and China. A new structure would not dissolve HSBC’s geopolitical challenges, but it could give the bank better options to respond quickly if things worsen. HSBC spent 2022 battling to convince shareholders of
RSS