"Why Only Women Are Exempt?"... Taiwan's First Female Reserve Forces Mobilization

Once Every 2 Years, 5-7 Days of Specialty Training
This Year, a Total of 220 Female Reservists Expected to Receive Training

As China continues to conduct military demonstrations against Taiwan, Taiwan is expected to begin mobilizing female reservists for training starting next month.

According to local media including the Taipei Times on the 25th, a Taiwanese military official stated that the first female reservist mobilization training will be held on the 8th of next month in the operational area within the Bade district of Taoyuan in northern Taiwan.

It is reported that the number of female reservists in Taiwan was 8,915 as of 2021. According to military statistics, about 15% of the approximately 180,000 active-duty soldiers, excluding reservists, are women.

The media reported that female reservists subject to training will be mobilized once every two years under the previous reservist training system and will receive re-education in their military specialties and branches for 5 to 7 days.

Amid China's military demonstrations against Taiwan, Taiwan is expected to conduct female reserve forces training starting next month.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The training process is the same for both men and women, but the use of accommodations, restrooms, and showers is separated from men. The exact number of female reservists participating in this training and the location have not been disclosed for security reasons.

Earlier, military authorities announced plans to request a total of 220 female reservists to undergo training this year. They also stated that until now, only male reservists have received training due to insufficient capacity to accommodate both men and women.

The media pointed out that among some reservist training participants, complaints have been raised for decades that this constitutes a form of gender discrimination.

Taiwanese men are required to undergo both mandatory conscription and reservist training, and recently, in response to threats from China, the mandatory military service period was extended from 4 months to 1 year.

Additionally, Taiwanese authorities plan to extend the mobilization age for reservist training from the current 8 years after discharge to 15 years after discharge. Furthermore, the number of reservists is expected to increase from 120,000 to 260,000, and the number of reservist brigades from 7 to 12.

Meanwhile, the media added that starting this year, the Taiwanese military plans to enhance combat power by conducting live-fire training involving small groups moving rather than fixed-position shooting training at shooting ranges.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.