Revision of Kidney and Body Mass Index Standards
Strengthening of Military Service Exemption Criteria for Mandatory Service Soldiers
Amid rising military tensions between Taiwan and China, Taiwan has relaxed conscription standards for its recruitment system, including height and body mass index (BMI) criteria for males.
According to Taiwanese media such as United Daily News on the 7th, the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense announced these changes while previewing a draft amendment to the legal provisions related to the "Implementation of Recruitment Soldier Selection Training" the previous day.
The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense stated that to meet the recruitment needs of the Taiwanese military, the height requirement for male recruits was adjusted from 158?195 cm to 152?200 cm, and for female recruits from 155?185 cm to 150?200 cm. Additionally, the BMI standard for male recruits (BMI is calculated as weight divided by height squared) was relaxed from "17?31" to "16.5?32." However, the BMI standard for females remains unchanged at "17?26."
The Ministry explained that this adjustment is "to meet the practical demands of troop management" and that it referred to height restrictions for recruited soldiers in countries like the United States. Wang Ding-yu, a legislator from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, responded positively to the relaxation of conditions, noting that the current battlefield differs from past battlefields where close combat occurred. He added, "Depending on the mission on the battlefield, height and BMI requirements may vary, but the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and cyber warfare does not seem to be highly related to height and BMI."
Regarding this measure, Taiwanese media cited military sources analyzing that it aims to resolve manpower supply issues due to the Taiwanese military's main combat units not reaching 90% of their target troop composition. It is reported that Taiwan is particularly struggling with troop composition in the army’s tank and artillery units, the navy’s main combat vessels, the Marine Corps, the Haipeng Battalion?a mobile missile unit operating the Xiongfeng anti-ship missile?and the Air Force’s air defense missile command.
Mandatory Service Period Extended from 4 Months to 1 Year Starting Next Year
Taiwan, which operates both a recruitment and conscription system, has decided to extend the mandatory military service period from 4 months to 1 year starting January next year. Additionally, voluntary reserve training for female veterans has been permitted starting this year.
Earlier, on May 30, the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense also revised the height criteria for exemption from mandatory service. The previous exemption standards were height "below 157 cm" and BMI "above 31 or below 17," but these were tightened to height "below 155 cm" and BMI "above 35 or below 15." The mandatory service applies to males aged 18 and above in Taiwan.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior statistics, the number of active duty service candidates was about 110,000 annually before 2016 but began to decline from 2019, and currently, both conscription and recruitment are facing difficulties.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
