For Taiwan youth, military service is a hard sell despite China tension

Loans Loans Headlines News

TAIPEI - Taiwan Air Force Staff Sergeant Jiang Pin-shiuan's pitch to freshmen at Taipei's Tamkang University seemed compelling: join the island's armed forces and get a state-sponsored degree, 110 days of leave each year and annual savings of 312,500 Taiwan dollars (S$13,964.84). But many listening students showed little interest, arguing national service was a 'waste of time' and prospects of the self-ruled island standing up economically or militarily to an increasingly aggressive China were slim.