The original "care training class" of the Taiwan Army's regional command centers was expanded into infantry battalions, which is believed to imply that Taiwan will resume one-year conscription.
According to Taiwan's United Daily News on the 26th, in order to restore one-year recruitment, the Taiwan "Resources Department of the Ministry of National Defense" established the "Compulsory Service Period Adjustment Project Planning Control Office" to coordinate various affairs and schedule planning for the restoration of one-year recruitment. At present, in addition to the decision to supplement the four army reserve infantry brigades and expand the executive training and recruitment forces of the reserve command centers of 18 counties and cities across Taiwan to regulate the army's compulsory service forces for training, the troops also have countermeasures. The report mentioned that the grassroots troops of the Taiwan Army have been transferred to some units and expanded their organization to prepare for the one-year compulsory service personnel who will join the battalion in the future. For example, the Taiwan Army's " Penghu Defense Command " expanded the "care training class" of the original company level into an infantry battalion, and in the future, it will also be responsible for the training of non-commissioned officers and the training of compulsory soldiers.
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, there has been a debate on whether to restore the conscription system on the island. The US has always believed that Taiwan should demonstrate its so-called "self-defense" determination, and the 4-month military training period is too short. Subsequently, Taiwan's defense department said it is studying to extend its four-month service period to one year. When former US Secretary of Defense Esper entered Taiwan in July, he also suggested that Taiwan should restore the conscription system and increase the defense budget to 3.2% of GDP.
However, there are different opinions on the island. United News Network analyzed that the biggest difficulty in resuming recruitment is that if military training becomes one year, the Taiwan military's staffing is expected to increase by 47,000, which is equivalent to a 25% expansion of the army. The expansion of the "outer islands" and important military facilities will be a huge burden. In addition, how to get the required hardware materials and software training in a short period of time is a big problem. Some scholars on the island said that extending service time is very likely to cause dissatisfaction among young people, especially the "nine-in-one" election of is approaching, and it is unlikely that the DPP authorities will announce the resumption of the conscription system before the election.
related expansion news has caused concerns among many young people on the island. In the comments on social platforms such as online forums PTT, , Facebook, , many young netizens said that the official statement on the restoration of the one-year conscription system was still unclear, but with the expansion of the "care training class" and the continuous discussion of this matter by the defense department, it seems that it has become a foregone conclusion. Many people said, "I don't want to fight for the DPP."
This year, the registration rate of freshmen in Taiwan’s Army College hit the lowest in history. In June, 1,000 new officers were scheduled to be recruited, but the number of freshmen registered was only more than 200. Xie Guorong, a free commentator who was once the commander of the Little Kinmen Artillery Battalion, wrote in September that when Tsai Ing-wen first took office, she cut off the pensions of retired military, public and educational police. At that time, among the demonstrations, the dignity and rights of many retired pilots were suppressed and bullied. "Today in Taiwan, the reason why most young people are unwilling to join the army is self-evident."
The China Times believes that judging from the experience of promoting the recruitment system , extending the service period is a political issue. No matter how the final plan is planned, only Tsai Ing-wen can make a decision. It is expected that it will not be possible to implement the leadership election in Taiwan in 2024. (Zhang Ruo)▲
