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[Global Times Special Correspondent Chen Lifei and Li Yao] Suspected of a shortage of soldiers, Taiwan's "Ministry of National Defense" recently announced that it would revise the "Rules for the Service of Regular and Supplementary Soldiers", deleting the original conditions that conscripts could apply for early discharge if their family conditions were low-income or middle-low-income. In other words, some "difficult households" may no longer be allowed to retire early, which has caused dissatisfaction on the island.

"I'd rather die of hunger than serve in the army"

According to Taiwan's United News Network on August 13, Article 15 of Taiwan's "Standard Soldier Supplementary Soldier Service Rules" originally stipulated that "Standard Soldier can apply for early discharge if his family situation meets certain conditions when he is in active service in the camp and does not interfere with military defense." Among them, the first article is "the family member who originally bore the main responsibility for the family's livelihood has died, and there are no other family members to bear the family's livelihood." You can apply for early discharge, but the revised article deleted this provision. The original article 2 "Parents, children or spouses have valid certificates of severe or above physical and mental disabilities, or family members have valid certificates of moderate or above physical and mental disabilities or major injuries and illnesses, and other adult family members cannot take care of them" has also been strictly revised to "the direct blood relatives, spouses or brothers and sisters in the family suffer from severe or above physical and mental disabilities, and there are no other family members to take care of them, or other family members are over 65 years old, under 15 years old, suffer from physical and mental disabilities, major injuries or diseases, or are over 15 years old and under 18 years old and are enrolled in school as certified by the school registered by the competent education administrative authority." Taiwan's CTS News said that this shows that in terms of compulsory service, low-income households and conscripts who are the "pillars" of the family "cannot be left behind." In the past, the Taiwan military took care of these people, but now "they have to serve in the army even if they starve to death."

In response, Taiwan's "Ministry of National Defense" argued that the reason for this was that the base for the "one-time settlement allowance and three-year living allowance" was raised, and the benefits of conscripts born after January 1, 2005 during their service were also raised, allowing conscripts to take care of their family living expenses during their service. At the same time, based on Taiwan's small family structure, the trend of an aging society, and the progress of education, social welfare systems, and medical technology, the condition of "all family members are over 65 years old or under 15 years old, and there are no other family members to take care of" was deleted to apply for early discharge.

In response to concerns about insufficient manpower, the Taiwan military argued that there were "sufficient" manpower. According to Taiwan's China Times on the 14th, the Taiwan "Ministry of National Defense" listed a bunch of figures and said that the Taiwan military's target for recruiting volunteers this year is 18,906 people. As of July 1, the stage plan number is 8,266, and the stage recruitment number is 8,623, "the achievement rate is 104.3%." Democratic Progressive Party "Legislator" Lai Ruilong also claimed that the shortage of manpower is "rumored" and that the "Ministry of the Interior" has made relevant adjustments to the fairness of military service, including regular service and alternative service, all of which have the same regulations. Therefore, the "Ministry of National Defense" made consistent adjustments for the "fairness" of military service, "Don't try to undermine the morale of the Taiwan military."

According to Taiwan media reports, according to the regulations of the Taiwan "Ministry of the Interior", the families of conscripted men who are in financial difficulties are divided into three levels: A, B, and C, and receive "one-time resettlement allowance and three-season living assistance funds", of which A is 21,390 yuan (New Taiwan dollars, the same below), B is 12,834 yuan, and C is 6,417 yuan. As for the treatment, taking the second-class conscript as an example, the current monthly salary is 20,320 yuan, of which the basic salary is 10,550 yuan, and after passing the training assessment, an additional 10,800 yuan can be received; the military, public servants and teachers have received a 4% salary increase this year, an increase of 1,030 yuan, and the monthly salary has reached 21,350 yuan. But it is still far lower than the basic (minimum) monthly salary of 25,250 yuan in the civilian sector.

Media refutes Taiwan military's claims

In response to the Taiwan military's statement, the island's media directly presented data to refute it. Some netizens quoted a previous report from the US "Washington Post" and sarcastically said, "Are those who say that rumors are spreading doubts about the United States?" The "Washington Post" recently reported that young Taiwanese people are not enthusiastic about joining the army, and the Taiwan authorities hope to establish a professional reserve force to assist the 155,000 active-duty soldiers. All men born after 2005 must serve for one year, but most choose to join the army after graduating from college. This group of conscripts will not complete their training until 2027. A small number of one-year conscripts who enlisted this year did not receive the original training. The Taiwan "Ministry of National Defense" originally planned to let conscripts learn to operate drones, "Sting" Missiles and "Red Falcon" anti-armor rockets were cancelled due to insufficient manpower. Taiwan's TVBS News Network also mentioned earlier that Taiwan's "Ministry of National Defense" confirmed at the end of April that the original plan for 9,127 conscripts to be enlisted this year was finally revised down to 6,936, accounting for only 6% of all conscription-age men.

At the same time, many parties have questioned the so-called "fairness". Taiwanese media mentioned that conscripts with financial difficulties have to serve for one year, but some "green elites" can be exempted from military service for various reasons, such as former DPP legislator Lin Chang-tiao who was exempted from military service due to anxiety disorder, and "National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General" Lin Fei-fan who was also exempted from military service as an alternative serviceman (serving in public institutions during military service, which has now been abolished).

Public opinion on the island has also raised questions about the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense's boasting that it has "recruited more than 104% of the troops." Former KMT legislator Lin Yufang said on the Taiwan China Times News program "Common People's Big Boss" that Taiwan's volunteer recruitment ratio has not been high for many years, and even only 400-500 people will be selected from 1,000 people, but this year it can be as high as 104.3%. "This number cannot deceive people," but where is the problem? Lin Yufang said that in the past, recruiting soldiers would strictly examine physical fitness, intellectual qualities, mental state, etc., and obtain high-quality soldiers through screening. "Some people think that recruiting soldiers does not need to be too particular, because now it is technological, just press a button and the missile will fly out. Then in what state can you press this button? These all require a lot of training, and should require higher-quality soldiers. As a result, now the door is wide open to recruit them. Can you believe the quality of such officers and soldiers?"

Stress is hard to relieve

Ma Zhunwei, assistant professor of the Strategic Studies Department at Tamkang University in Taiwan, said that the shortage of soldiers is closely related to the declining birth rate. A fixed proportion of people have always volunteered to serve in the military. If the problem of insufficient soldiers is to be solved, it is very difficult to increase the birth rate in the short term. The only way is to "restore the conscription system, extend the service period" and "recruit mercenaries." However, the cost of recruiting mercenaries is high, and there are also problems such as language and loyalty. The conservative approach is to extend the military service period, but if it is extended further, there are still votes and other public opinion considerations, which will be a big obstacle to implementation.

Lin Yufang said that if cross-strait relations are not restored, the pressure on military expenses and personnel will only increase. Taiwan's United Daily News published an editorial saying that let's first look at the recent news about the Taiwan military: First, Taiwan's "Audit Department" said that the maintenance work of the navy's main warships was seriously delayed, and as many as half of them were not implemented as planned. Second, the military police of the Taiwan "Presidential Palace" shot themselves, and the "legislators" found that the unit's current ratio (the ratio of actual number of people to the expected quota) was only more than 60%, resulting in the frequency of guard posts far exceeding the standard. Third, the Taiwan "Legislative Yuan" Budget Center investigated that the total number of Taiwan military officers and soldiers in July last year was 155,218, a decrease of more than 9,600 from 18 months ago, a decrease of 6%. The number of people lost in the last 6 months was almost the same as the previous 12 months, "showing that lack of manpower is the biggest concern of the military." The article said that the total defense expenditure on the island next year will reach 647 billion yuan, an increase of 40 billion yuan from this year, setting a new record again. But money is just a veneer. The grassroots staff have worked hard, but the hollowing out of their organization and morale under long-term pressure cannot make up for the harm caused by the paranoia of the top leaders. "If we continue to ignore the risks, or step on the accelerator for our own short-term gain, it will lead to a devastating outcome."