The armed forces are at 80 percent strength, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report submitted to the legislature as part of the annual budget review.
The report did not include troops enlisted through the one-year compulsory military service that was reinstated earlier this year.
The military’s staffing level was 89 percent in 2020, 88 percent in 2021, and 80 percent in 2022 and last year, it said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Taiwan’s declining population, the COVID-19 pandemic, competition from the civilian sector and inadequate salaries and perks offered by the military are to blame for the ministry’s recruitment woes, the report said.
Citing Ministry of the Interior data, the report said the pool of Taiwanese men who could potentially serve in the military last year decreased to 97,828, down from 102,740 in 2022.
The situation is expected to worsen with Taiwan’s 2031 military staffing pool dropping to a projected 74,036, it said.
The report revealed a worrisome decline, lawmakers reviewing the defense budget told defense officials during a question-and-answer session.
Some combat units are at less than 80 percent of their required strength and last year’s 78 percent retention rate was just above the government’s target of 76 percent, the lawmakers said.
The reintroduction of mandatory service would help provide troops for defense, but not combat units, which need seasoned professionals with skills acquired over years of training, the lawmakers said.
The defense ministry is urged to step up its recruitment efforts by reviewing its current methods, while paying particular attention to increasing the number of volunteer soldiers and boosting retention, they said.
Ministerial departments would provide the legislature with more written reports on these matters, they added.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS