Manpower available for military service:
males age 19-49: 5,883,828 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 19-49: 4,749,537 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 174,173 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$7.574 billion (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.6% (2004)
Transnational Issues Taiwan
Disputes - international:
involved in complex dispute with China, Malaysia, Philippines,
Vietnam, and possibly Brunei over the Spratly Islands; the 2002
"Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has
eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code of
conduct" desired by several of the disputants; Paracel Islands are
occupied by China, but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam; in 2003, China
and Taiwan became more vocal in rejecting both Japan's claims to the
uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's
unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea
where all parties engage in hydrocarbon prospecting
Illicit drugs:
regional transit point for heroin and methamphetamine; major
problem with domestic consumption of methamphetamine and heroin;
renewal of domestic methamphetamine production is a problem
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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