Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) Legislation and funding are crucial if Taiwan is to realize its goal of implementing a completely volunteer-manned military service system by 2014, the premier said Monday.
The volunteer military -- pledged by President Ma Ying-jeou during his 2008 presidential election campaign -- will change the existing military system, which consists of voluntary service and conscription, to a completely voluntary program.
It is "extremely difficult" to turn a civilian into a professional soldier in the current one-year conscription period, which is why an all- volunteer system is the right track, Premier Wu Den-yih said in an interpellation session at the Legislative Yuan.
Wu said the system will only be successful if the Ministry of National Defense (MND) secures sufficient funding and is able to train elite soldiers, to maximize military capability with minimum personnel.
Meanwhile, National Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu said an amendment to the Act of Military Service System will also be necessary if the plan is to advance. He added that the new system would still require males of conscription age to go through four months of basic military training.
Funding appears to be the most serious problem for the new program. In March, the MND's Department of Manpower estimated that the volunteer military service system will increase personnel costs by NT$210 million (US$6.81 million) for every 10,000 servicemen.
Taiwan's 2011 military budget accounts for only 2.6 percent of its national gross domestic production, according to the Executive Yuan.
According to a Control Yuan report in 2008, the MND had planned to cut its military personnel from 275,000 to 215,000.
Last month, Kao told a legislative session that the progress of the program has fallen behind schedule because of recruiting difficulties and insufficient funding. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J