According to a report on January 13 by the Taiwan Media, including the Comprehensive United News Network, the manpower situation of the Taiwanese military continues to show“Red lights,” with the number of noncommissioned officers opting to retire early by losing money skyrocketing from 401 in 2020 to 1,565 in the 2024, about four times as many. “United Daily News” commented that in recent years, not only has the Taiwan army not achieved satisfactory results in terms of recruitment and retention, but the number of early discharges has also continued to rise, and there has been an urgent crisis in the operation of the Taiwan Army.
The manpower situation of the Taiwanese army continues to show“Red lights”, and the number of people who choose to lose money and leave the army early continues to rise. Source: Associated Press
The report said that in recent years, under the policies of strengthening emerging combat capabilities and reserves, and resuming one-year conscription, the Taiwanese army has had to redeploy personnel to set up new units, resulting in a decline in the ratio of grass-roots units to current numbers and a sharp rise in the pressure on military combat training, more people are leaving.
Citing the island’s 2025 defense budget, UDN said 160749 Taiwanese military volunteers had been“Budgeted for,” the lowest number since 2020. This figure has been used for the budgeting of salaries, and in fact the manpower situation is even more worrying. It is worth noting, the report said, that budgetary staffing was down only 3 percent compared with 2024, while the“Combat force plus” available only to members of the Taiwanese army’s combat forces was down 9 percent, it shows that the loss of manpower of the Taiwanese army is concentrated in the main battle units.
According to reports, previously, there was no legal early departure mechanism for Taiwanese military volunteer non-commissioned officers before the expiration of the stipulated minimum service years. Some officers deliberately pretended to be ill, violated discipline or even injured themselves in order to leave the camp early. In July 2018, pushed by the then public opinion representative Hung Tzu-yung, the Taiwanese legislature introduced an amendment to the regulations on the service of non-commissioned officers, you can apply for early discharge.
The report also said that after the“Hung Tzu-yung clause” was put on the road, there were not many applications from the Taiwanese army to be discharged in the early days. Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said in May 2019 that only 49 people had applied, but the number of people opting to lose money and leave early has risen rapidly in recent years. From 2020 to the 2024 year, the number soared from 401 to 1,565.
“The United Daily News” published a commentary saying that the manpower problem of the Taiwanese army continues to worsen. In recent years, not only has the recruitment and retention results been unsatisfactory, but the number of early discharges has also continued to rise, and the operation of the Taiwanese army has Clear and Present Danger, this is a reality the authorities can not ignore.