Taiwan To Cut Troops Amid Warming China Ties
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 16 Mar 13:19 EDT (17:19 GMT)
TAIPEI - Taiwan plans to cut the size of its armed forces by more than a fifth by 2014, as tensions with China continue to ease, the defense ministry said March 16.
The measures, which will take the total number of troops to 215,000, are part of a defense review that will also see compulsory military service scrapped within five years.
Presently, all men aged over 20 are required to spend a year in the armed forces.
Taiwan's relatively large army is a legacy of decades of tensions with China, which has regarded the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.
However, ties between Taiwan and China have improved dramatically since Ma Ying-jeou's Kuomintang party took office last May promising to boost cross-Strait trade and tourism.
The defence review, published March 16, said despite the 60,000 cut in troop numbers, the island had to remain on guard against hostility from across the Strait.
"As the Chinese communists still refuse to give up the use of force against Taiwan, the military threat remains and we must not relax ourselves in the maintenance of sufficient defence capabilities," it said.
The report noted that China has at least 1,300 ballistic missiles pointed at Taiwan, and has deployed advanced Russian-made SU-27 and SU-30 fighters near the island.
The defense review said should war break out, the People's Liberation Army could launch massive air strikes on Taiwan's airports, harbors and military commands, and could block the island's maritime lifeline as a prelude to invasion.
China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan if the island declares independence, prompting Taiwanese authorities to seek more advanced weaponry, largely from the United States.
To buttress the continued threat from China, the ministry aims to build a leaner but more powerful deterrent, the review said.
The navy plans to acquire eight submarines, warships and missile boats while the air force is mulling the purchase of next-generation fighters featuring stealth technology as well as short take-off and landing capabilities, it said.
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