Military Taiwan
Military branches:
Army, Navy (includes Marine Corps), Air Force, Coast Guard
Administration, Armed Forces Reserve Command, Combined Service
Forces Command, Armed Forces Police Command
Military service age and obligation:
19-35 years of age for military service; service obligation 16
months (to be shortened to 12 months in 2008); women in Air Force
service are restricted to noncombat roles (2005)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 19-49: 5,883,828
females age 19-49: 5,680,773 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 19-49: 4,749,537
females age 19-49: 4,644,607 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 174,173
females age 19-49: 163,683 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$7.93 billion (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.4% (2005 est.)
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