PRESS

Not only will Taiwan’s transition to an all-volunteer
force affect its ability to invest in new capabilities,
but it also may negatively affect Taiwan’s ability to defend
against the most stressing of scenarios: an invasion
by the PLA. The MND places an understandable
emphasis on mobilizing reserves during such a scenario.
The military’s concept of “active duty force for
strike and attack, reserve force for homeland defense”
highlights the importance of the reserves, which is
tasked with carrying out (alongside the active force) a
key piece of Taiwan’s defense strategy.
But maintaining an effective reserve force and
promoting what the MND calls “all-out defense” is
likely to become a greater challenge. Although all men
of military age will continue to receive rudimentary
training, the reserve force will be less well-trained
than it was when all conscripts were required to serve
on active duty. 41 While military personnel will serve in
the reserves following their active duty service, these
experienced servicemen and servicewomen will make
up a smaller share of the reserve force as the activeduty
force shrinks.
Not only does this look insufficient for building
a force able to contend with a Chinese invasion, but
it would also seem inadequate in the vein of MND’s
efforts to accumulate all-out defense capabilities. The
QDR lists “all-out defense” as an important piece of
the defense strategy’s homeland defense mission:
Continue to promote all-out defense education, cultivate
the public’s patriotism and support for national
defense; coordinate interagency efforts to establish a
robust all-out defense system; maintain capabilities
of reserve force through mobilization and training
to ensure rapid mobilization during peacetime and
wartime. 42
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