A declining population, competition from the civilian sector and inadequate military salaries are causing recruitment woes, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report submitted to the legislature.
The pool of Taiwanese men who could potentially serve in the military last year decreased to 97,828, down from 102,740 in 2022, and it could drop to 74,036 by 2031, the report said.
The situation would not be helped by the reintroduction of mandatory service, as combat units need seasoned professionals with skills acquired over years of training, the report said.
The military must promptly address the issue by attracting volunteer recruits. Naturally, the first place to start would be with salaries, subsidies and other benefits. The ministry could raise base wages, but it could also offer to repay student loans for recruits who commit to certain lengths of service. For those without higher-education degrees, it could offer training, along with military career paths that would provide experience.
A common complaint from conscripts is that the time they spend in the military puts them at a disadvantage when entering the workforce. Giving recruits training and experience during conscription or volunteer service would alleviate this.
Another benefit the ministry could offer is housing assistance and childcare benefits for married recruits. Such benefits are rarely offered in the private sector, and would make military service an attractive option.
Another common complaint from conscripts is that training is largely a waste of time.
“They describe a process that was designed decades ago with a heavy emphasis on bayonet training, but lacking instruction in urban warfare strategies or modern weapons like drones,” CNN reported on Jan. 20 last year.
Some reforms have been implemented, but the military could attract volunteer recruits by offering more interesting combat training. Recruits could be provided with better training in firearms, urban warfare, first aid and drone piloting. They could even be given the opportunity to undergo cyberwarfare training — and that would open the door to more recruits, as physical fitness would not be a limiting factor.
Ultimately, a shrinking population is the biggest challenge the military faces with recruitment. As the population is shrinking, drones, artificial intelligence and cyberwarfare tactics would be of increasing importance to military strategy, which is all the more reason that training in those areas should be implemented as soon as possible.
The government could also look at foreign recruitment as a path to immigration. Several countries, including the US, do this already, and about 8,000 foreign-born recruits join the US military annually, according to the US Army’s Web site.
Taiwan has about 960,000 foreign residents, of which 700,000 are migrant workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies shows.
If the government were to offer higher pay and a path to citizenship, some might be interested in serving in the military. Ultimately, the ministry would need to tackle the recruitment issue on multiple fronts: training reforms, improvements to the pay and benefits structure, encouragement of child-rearing and openness to the possibility of foreign recruitment.
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry gives it a strategic advantage, but that advantage would be threatened as the US seeks to end Taiwan’s monopoly in the industry and as China grows more assertive, analysts said at a security dialogue last week. While the semiconductor industry is Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” its dominance has been seen by some in the US as “a monopoly,” South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University academic Kwon Seok-joon said at an event held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In addition, Taiwan lacks sufficient energy sources and is vulnerable to natural disasters and geopolitical threats from China, he said.
After reading the article by Hideki Nagayama [English version on same page] published in the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Wednesday, I decided to write this article in hopes of ever so slightly easing my depression. In August, I visited the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan, to attend a seminar. While there, I had the chance to look at the museum’s collections. I felt extreme annoyance at seeing that the museum had classified Taiwanese indigenous peoples as part of China’s ethnic minorities. I kept thinking about how I could make this known, but after returning
What value does the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hold in Taiwan? One might say that it is to defend — or at the very least, maintain — truly “blue” qualities. To be truly “blue” — without impurities, rejecting any “red” influence — is to uphold the ideology consistent with that on which the Republic of China (ROC) was established. The KMT would likely not object to this notion. However, if the current generation of KMT political elites do not understand what it means to be “blue” — or even light blue — their knowledge and bravery are far too lacking
Taipei’s population is estimated to drop below 2.5 million by the end of this month — the only city among the nation’s six special municipalities that has more people moving out than moving in this year. A city that is classified as a special municipality can have three deputy mayors if it has a population of more than 2.5 million people, Article 55 of the Local Government Act (地方制度法) states. To counter the capital’s shrinking population, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) held a cross-departmental population policy committee meeting on Wednesday last week to discuss possible solutions. According to Taipei City Government data, Taipei’s