The Ministry of National Defense sent Lieutenant General Liu Pei-chih (劉沛智), deputy chief of the General Staff for personnel, to a quetion-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan on Thursday last week. In response to a question put to him by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應), Liu said that the armed forces are meeting targets for recruitment and retention rates, but more than 4,600 people last year and more than 3,000 people in the first nine months of this year had applied to terminate their service prematurely on the grounds of not being fit for active service.
Starting last year, total assigned armed forces personnel is to increase annually to more than 50,000 by 2029, Liu said.
Difficulty in adapting can affect people in any situation, whether it is studying at a military academy or working in a civilian job. When I was in my first year at a military academy, I wanted to drop out because of the heavy physical strain, the centralized management and the lack of freedom in the military.
However, after attending guidance meetings with officers and counselors, and talking the matter over with my parents, I canceled my application to withdraw.
Following this decision, I not only graduated without a hitch, but went on to serve 20 years in the military.
The military is like a closed society. The unit in which one serves is like a small company, in which there are all kinds of people. Whatever happens in ordinary society can more or less also happen in the army, such as fraud, drunk driving, drug abuse, jealousy and snitching.
However, when such things happen in the relatively closed and unfree conditions of the armed forces, it makes many people want to quit.
The 7,600 people in nearly two years leaving the military on the grounds of being unfit for active service is not a small number, so the Ministry of National Defense should give the issue serious attention. After all, Taiwan’s falling birthrate is already making it harder to recruit people.
The ministry could improve the situation by offering more guidance sessions to those who have trouble adapting to military life.
If necessary, such people can be transferred from their original units to give them another chance to adapt. This might reduce the number of people who leave the military before completing their service, which takes a toll on the military’s strength.
Chen Hung-hui is a student counselor at a university.
Translated by Julian Clegg
The US election result will significantly impact its foreign policy with global implications. As tensions escalate in the Taiwan Strait and conflicts elsewhere draw attention away from the western Pacific, Taiwan was closely monitoring the election, as many believe that whoever won would confront an increasingly assertive China, especially with speculation over a potential escalation in or around 2027. A second Donald Trump presidency naturally raises questions concerning the future of US policy toward China and Taiwan, with Trump displaying mixed signals as to his position on the cross-strait conflict. US foreign policy would also depend on Trump’s Cabinet and
The Taiwanese have proven to be resilient in the face of disasters and they have resisted continuing attempts to subordinate Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Nonetheless, the Taiwanese can and should do more to become even more resilient and to be better prepared for resistance should the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) try to annex Taiwan. President William Lai (賴清德) argues that the Taiwanese should determine their own fate. This position continues the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) tradition of opposing the CCP’s annexation of Taiwan. Lai challenges the CCP’s narrative by stating that Taiwan is not subordinate to the
Republican candidate and former US president Donald Trump is to be the 47th president of the US after beating his Democratic rival, US Vice President Kamala Harris, in the election on Tuesday. Trump’s thumping victory — winning 295 Electoral College votes against Harris’ 226 as of press time last night, along with the Republicans winning control of the US Senate and possibly the House of Representatives — is a remarkable political comeback from his 2020 defeat to US President Joe Biden, and means Trump has a strong political mandate to implement his agenda. What does Trump’s victory mean for Taiwan, Asia, deterrence
The return of US president-elect Donald Trump to the White House has injected a new wave of anxiety across the Taiwan Strait. For Taiwan, an island whose very survival depends on the delicate and strategic support from the US, Trump’s election victory raises a cascade of questions and fears about what lies ahead. His approach to international relations — grounded in transactional and unpredictable policies — poses unique risks to Taiwan’s stability, economic prosperity and geopolitical standing. Trump’s first term left a complicated legacy in the region. On the one hand, his administration ramped up arms sales to Taiwan and sanctioned
RSS