As Tensions with China Rise, Taiwan on High Alert as Combat Troop Recruitment Rate Plummets

12,884 Volunteer Soldiers Fail to Complete Minimum Service Period
Taiwanese Media: "Manpower Shortage Due to Declining Birthrate"

Amid ongoing military tensions between China and Taiwan, it has been confirmed that the recruitment rate for volunteer soldiers, who make up the front-line combat forces of the Taiwanese military, has plummeted by about 30 percentage points over the past three and a half years.

On November 10, Taiwanese media outlets such as United Daily News reported this information, citing the recently released "2026 General Budget Analysis Report" by the Budget Center of the Legislative Yuan (Taiwan's national legislature).

Taiwanese soldiers. Photo by AP Yonhap News.

According to the report, the ratio of actual volunteer enlisted personnel to the authorized number dropped from 91.84% at the end of 2021 to 63.35% as of the end of June this year, a decrease of 28.49 percentage points.

The Budget Center explained that as of the end of June this year, the recruitment rate for volunteer soldiers in first-line combat units stood at 75.58%, failing to meet the Ministry of National Defense's minimum threshold of 80%. It also added that from 2021 to 2024, the Taiwanese military recruited 52,674 volunteer enlisted soldiers, but about 25% (12,884 soldiers) failed to complete the minimum service period of four years.

Jezhong, a researcher at the Chinese Future Strategy Association, described the approximately 30 percentage point decrease in the actual-to-authorized ratio for volunteer soldiers over the past three and a half years as a shocking "cliff-like drop." He further explained, "This is related to a vicious cycle of manpower shortages in front-line units, the burden of frequent and intensive training, difficulties in replenishing personnel, and the increasing workload on remaining soldiers."

Taiwanese media pointed out that the size of the volunteer force has been shrinking every year due to factors such as a declining birthrate and resulting manpower shortages in society. They warned that this could cause problems in cultivating and maintaining specialized personnel to operate new weapons systems in the future.

Previously, after the Kuomintang government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 following defeat by the Communist Party, conscription required Taiwanese men to serve in the military for two to three years. In 2008, the service period was reduced to one year, but during the Ma Ying-jeou administration of the Kuomintang (2008-2016), mandatory service was further shortened to just four months of training in 2013. At that time, the Ma Ying-jeou administration transitioned to a full volunteer military system. Currently, the Taiwanese military is primarily composed of volunteer soldiers, with conscripts serving in auxiliary roles.