Military

Analysis: How Taiwan's Armed Forces Are Improving Recruitment

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By Eason Chen/Lery Hiciano

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The defense ministry is set to propose a series of reforms to attract and retain talent in the armed forces. TaiwanPlus spoke to defense analyst Su Tzu-yun from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research for more on what effect these changes could have.

Military Recruitment in Taiwan

 

REPORTER:  

 In its report to lawmakers. The Defense Ministry put its staffing ratio at about 79%. It also announced that in the last four years, roughly one quarter of all volunteer soldiers have chosen an early discharge. What do you feel about these numbers?

Su Tzu-yun (DEFENSE ANALYST, INDSR):  

I think this issue is not unique to Taiwan  it exists in all democratic countries.

Secondly, Taiwan faces greater challenges because of its smaller population size of only 23.5 million people, so of course  there are more challenges.

But the situation is trending upwards.  Taiwan has increased soldiers’ salaries and  improved their overall treatment. While the data shows that one-fourth of personnel  choose an early discharge  this is likely to improve significantly. The current number of applicants for  volunteer positions already exceeds demand. This also goes for Taiwan’s military colleges  which are also seeing a lot of applications.

REPORTER:

What do you think about the announced plans to improve retention rates and improve recruitment numbers?

Su Tzu-yun (DEFENSE ANALYST, INDSR):  

As we’ve discussed, the most important factor  is of course the pay.  The second is overall treatment which means a more human-focused organizational culture. Third is new equipment  which is very important. It motivates volunteers  to participate more willingly. It’s a matter of self-respect.

REPORTER:

There's been recent news about personnel leaking information to China. How do you think this impacts public perception of the armed forces, and does it have any impact on recruitment numbers?

Su Tzu-yun (DEFENSE ANALYST, INDSR):  

I believe this recent news  will have very little effect.  The problem starts with China and the Communist party.

Taiwan should also strengthen  its counter-espionage methods.  Although there are many spy cases now  it actually shows that Taiwan’s  counter-intelligence system is working well.

In the future though, it’ll be necessary  to better understand China’s specific infiltration methods.