Taiwan’s got a military model that’s very similar to Israel’s and that’s an issue that comes up very often when the Taiwanese learn that I’m Israeli and try to compare Israel and Taiwan. Both countries are of the same size, more or less the same economic strength, and are faced by generally similar threats from surrounding powers. Not many of the Taiwanese students I know have actually done military service, and those who have were not in combat positions, and so I lack general basic information about how the Taiwanese army compares to what I know about the Israeli army. When discussing this issue we do simple comparisons : Israeli boys serve 3 years, Israeli girls 2 years, most combat personnel are part of the reserve forces with one month of training or actual service every year, and every once in a while there’s a situation that calls for more than that. With the little I got about Taiwan I was made to understand that girls are exempt from service, boys do around a year, and none of those I know have to do anything beyond that.
Wikipedia has some interesting background data to get me started. Globalsecurity.org has more in-depth information.
While e-mailing with a former Israeli colleague - Niv David - he told me that his MA thesis from a few years back included a comparison and survey of the US, German and Taiwanese army models. He has kindly sent me his very thorough paper to help gain a better insight into Taiwan’s military power and their reserve forces.
His Hebrew paper, summarized to only include Taiwan’s military analysis is available for download with his permission. There aren’t many good Hebrew sources on the topic, so if you’re interested in Taiwan it’s well-worth your time.
I’ll just quickly translate the final table summarizing the data on Taiwan :
Interesting, thanks Niv.
天天北极-Carrie
| August 5th, 2007 at 3:06 pm #
Taiwan本来军力就不强
现在还要跟China闹…
the China-Taiwan issue is so tense that every little governmental movement will arounse intense emotional conflicts~
how’s ur opinion on this issue?
天天北极-Carrie
| August 5th, 2007 at 3:15 pm #
totally my opinion:
Israel is fighting and serving for its own survive~ that makes me respect this country very much…
but Taiwan is serving in case one day it would fight with China, in Chinese words, like the son turns against his mother, that makes me feel disgusting…
i don’t see any good to compare Taiwan with Israel in this serving issue. maybe it’s all about emotion, i’m so in love with Israel, and i’m in China~
don’t get me wrong, i like Taiwanese people… they’re usually very nice~ but the government is in such great disorders and i can hardly see the future clearly…
Yuri K
| August 6th, 2007 at 1:54 pm #
what a topic. i once thought that anthropological studies on army (Israel, Taiwan, and Korea - because military service is mandatory there) would be super duper interesting. just you know, south koreans (men only) are serving 2 years and 2 months - it’s actually a reduced duration, my peers served for 2 years and 6 months. the threat of south korea… said to be north korea… the whole thing sounds like a joke (to me), yet i suppose i don’t know much about it. oooops… anyways soldiers are not strangers but our little brothers - if a soldier is on the street, that means he’s on vacation - everyone is nice/sympathetic to him. a common perception that a guy becomes a real adult as long as he finishs his military duty is shared by korea and taiwan - not sure if everyone agrees on this, just me and my friend from Taiwan talk in a similar language in terms of military duty (and sexism in taiwan and korea, lol)
the threat that Israel and Taiwan face… no idea what i can talk about it, too difficult and sensitive. too many opinions, too much politics.. one thing that i do want to mention is that the role of Israeli soldiers seems to be quite different - they seem to be everywhere, on the street, with guns.. playing some sort of social mediator or cop or something (please correct me if it’s far from right). that’s definitely not the case of korea, how about taiwan? how do people perceive soldiers? what role do they play, and how is the role significantly differentiated from Israel? how do young men think of their military duty? and how does the “military culture” affect the general public? ummmm quetions just go on and on and on..
what a blah. sorry
love your writing, always thought-provoking.
Poagao
| August 6th, 2007 at 6:40 pm #
I dunno about now, but when I was in the army it was two years, 3 and a half if you had a college degree and made it through officer training, or 10 years with no degree and master sergeant training. But the current administration has since been slashing down the military service time, down to just a little over a year, while trying to implement a volunteer force. It used to be service was seen as a necessary, if risky, sign of adulthood, but not so much these days. We didn’t wear uniforms when on leave, but I occasionally see soldiers wearing uniforms nowadays. The MPs also don’t seem as forbidding as they used to.
Hai Tien
| August 7th, 2007 at 2:23 am #
The impression I get is that politicians see slashing military service time as a quick and easy way of winning the youth vote, as well as votes from parents. Unfortunately, one side effect of the whole “strawberry generation” thing is people no longer have a pressing sense of danger. Military service is seen as a waste of time better avoided if possible. People who can avoid the draft but choose not to are considered oddballs, at least judging by the odd looks I get from the civil servants at my local conscription office when they realize I’m a dual citizen.
fiLi
| August 9th, 2007 at 5:53 pm #
Yuri… yeah, comparing to Korea is also very interesting.
You’re right, in Israel the army is highly embedded within the society, being the “people’s army” and having a very evident presence in Israeli everyday life. Tourists are often intimidated by that, and I can totally understand why.
I don’t think I’ve met a Taiwanese soldier yet. They’re defintly not walking around and taking public transportation, as far as I can tell. Most of the Taiwanese youth I met don’t feel anything special towards the army or for serving in the army.
fiLi
| August 9th, 2007 at 5:58 pm #
Paogao…
I’ve been trying to figure out how it was that you served in the ROC army. I’m sure there’s an interesting story behind that.
It would be interesting to read a bit more about the politics regarding the Taiwanese army in recent years and how that is reflected within the society. I wasn’t able to find much English info on that, sadly.
fiLi
| August 9th, 2007 at 6:04 pm #
Hai Tien, I believe you’re right.
It’s interesting that the same thing is actually happening in the Israeli society, despite a growing sense of danger from internal (Gaza) and regional politics (Lebanon, Syria and especially Iran).
The Israel-Lebanon war last year took this to the extreme, having halted what many perceived as an important move towards devoting less resources and manpower to the army.
I’m sure it has something to do with the Israeli/Taiwanese economies, a change in this generation’s ideals and a general tiredness of conflict based politics.
Poagao
| August 9th, 2007 at 6:07 pm #
You’ve probably seen soldiers around town but didn’t realize it as they weren’t wearing their uniforms at the time. I can usually tell from their haircuts, tan lines and demeanor, but not always.
As for me, I was drafted. All male ROC citizens at that time (mid-90’s) had to put in two years’ military service.
Ultra
| August 22nd, 2007 at 10:50 pm #
Interesting article. Love your writing. I am an expatriate myself having immigrated to another country early, so I did not serve in the military. But from what I heard from my father, it used to be you have to serve 2 years in Taiwanese arm forces. You don’t see military personnels on the street because most of them are inside the fortified bases and barracks around Taiwan. When they do get out, they don’t wear uniform. It is the same thing like school kids (LOL) when schools are over ppl wants to change to casual clothes. None really wants to wear uniform and walk around because :
1. It is imposing
2. It makes you feel like you are not leaving your job behind to have good time while on leave.
3: If you wear a uniform and ermm.. cause an accident - let’s say drunken brawl… the military takes a far harsher measure against soldiers on the leave than if you are just a civilian.
4. Lastly, I think it has to do with cultural issue. I am not sure if you know about “228 incident” or the difference between “Mainlanders in Taiwan” and “local Taiwanese”. But it used to be ALL the Generals and senior positions in Taiwan are all occupied by mainlanders… (it is after all, Chang-Kai Shek’s army). Chang-Kai Shek used the army to brutally surpressed the local people before, so wearing a uniform have the “supporting the oppressive regime” under-tone. Nobody wants to be associated with it.