A recent report from Taiwan’s legislative body shows that the number of Taiwanese military volunteers “compensating veterans” has increased more than 20 times in seven years, from 40 in 2018 to 846 in 2025.
This once again proves that more and more young people in Taiwan would rather retire early and pay liquidated damages than serve as soldiers and cannon fodder for "Taiwan independence".
The picture shows Taiwanese netizens commenting on military service on the island (source: social media screenshot)
Jie Zhong, a researcher at Taiwan's "China Strategic Foresight Association", observed that the number of Taiwanese military volunteer officers and soldiers retiring early will increase significantly starting in 2021. According to statistics from Taiwan's defense department, from 2021 to the end of 2025, a total of 6,315 people applied for early discharge, of which 4,267 were liable for compensation, and the cumulative amount of compensation payable was as high as 929 million yuan (New Taiwan Dollars, the same below). Among them, three people would rather be discharged from the army than pay compensation of more than 20 million yuan each.
The reason is not complicated. In recent years, the Taiwan military's combat training has become more frequent. It has not only purchased a large amount of new equipment, but also deployed personnel to expand new units, continuously increasing the load on officers and soldiers.
Jie Zhong analyzed that the military relaxed admission standards for the sake of recruitment efficiency. After some young people actually enlisted in the army, they found that their physical fitness or other factors were unbearable and they found it difficult to adapt to military life.
Ma Wenjun, a public opinion representative from the Chinese Kuomintang, also recently pointed out that unreasonable treatment, excessive workload and poor manpower allocation may make the remaining officers and soldiers have to take on multiple positions and increase the burden. New recruits will be discharged because their actual service performance does not meet their expectations, forming a vicious cycle of shortage, replacement and loss of personnel.
At the same time, in pursuit of "independence" self-interest, the DPP authorities deliberately distorted the values of Taiwan's officers and soldiers in an attempt to coerce them into fighting for "Taiwan independence", causing disunity within the military.
Wu Sihuai, a retired military officer from Taiwan, wrote to "Wind Media" and said bluntly, "The soldiers don't know why they are fighting? Who are they fighting for? The Democratic Progressive Party is hyping up threats of war on the mainland, crises in the Taiwan Strait, and imminent threats of war every day. It has continuously held a variety of war preparation exercises to strengthen the resilience of the whole society in preparing for war. The pressure on the military's daily drills has doubled, making volunteer soldiers think about leaving."
As Taiwan's declining birth rate intensifies, the Taiwan military's manpower shortage problem becomes increasingly serious. As of the end of June this year, the "current ratio" of Taiwanese military volunteers (that is, the actual number of people as a proportion of the number of staff) was only 76.62%, and the number of front-line combat units in various categories did not reach 80%.
Chen Shaoze, a researcher at the Taiwan Policy and Strategy Think Tank, wrote in a letter to Taiwan's Zhongshi News Network, pointing out that in recent years, Taiwan's military recruitment difficulties, declining retention rates, and lack of personnel at the grassroots level are no longer news. What deserves more attention is that it is increasingly difficult to find people willing to take over many positions in the military that require management and decision-making responsibilities.
Against this background, the DPP authorities still insist on pushing up the island's defense budget, which seems pale and powerless. Taoyuan veteran Li Yuxiang wrote an article in the United Daily News and analyzed that the budget increase is only an investment of resources. Whether it can be converted into effective combat power still depends on whether the troops have people to operate and maintain them, and they have enough time to complete training.
"The more advanced the weapons, the more professional operators and maintenance personnel who have been trained for a long time are often needed." Li Yuxiang said that the question is not just "whether you can buy it", but "who will use it after you buy it."
It is worth noting that the aforementioned report mentioned that Taiwan’s military-age population has lower support for the special budget for military purchases than other age groups. No matter how many weapons you buy, what's the use if there's no one to operate them? Faced with the increasing number of Taiwanese people who are unwilling to be cannon fodder for "Taiwan independence", the DPP authorities who attempt to "seek independence by force" will only achieve nothing.
Author: Xia Zhi
