TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Alternatives to compulsory military service will disappear once conscription is abolished, but the wages of soldiers will rise significantly, defense officials said Thursday.
Taiwan plans to finish conscription by the end of 2014 following successive governments’ measures to cut down the size of the military.
The basic monthly salary for volunteer soldiers would rise from NT$27,915 to NT$30,915, Ministry of National Defense personnel chief Chao Ko-ta told lawmakers.
The average total cost per 10,000 soldiers would rise by NT$210 million, he said.
The legislative foreign affairs and defense committee session also turned its attention to China’s military threat. Lawmakers expressed concern that China was likely to start using its first aircraft carrier in 2012, threatening to disrupt the balance of power across the Taiwan Straits.
Defense intelligence officials however played down the threat, saying the ship was just a renovated version of an old aircraft carrier. The ship could move, but otherwise it had little operational value, officials told lawmakers.
The military said it would still take some time before China succeeded in launching the aircraft carrier, and even more time for it to actually be able to use the vessel in a warfare situation. The ministry would closely monitor developments involving the carrier, officials said.
Taiwan News
