Republic of China Army’s Reserves Missing 30 Percent of Equipment: Armoured Vehicles Cracking Due to Poor Welding

A new audit of the Republic of China Armed Forces has revealed that the Army’s military reserve units are missing 30 percent of their equipment, with some categories of equipment such as communications and medical support having fallen below 60 percent availability. This audit has reflected poorly on efforts taken over four years to strengthen the reserve system, which have included the activation of five infantry brigades, implementation of 14 day refresher training programs, and the creation of county- and city-level homeland defence units. Unlike the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of China Armed Forces rely on a conscription system for all males, with 1.657 million reservists currently on call. Training standards, however, have been widely criticised both domestically and abroad, with conscripts required to train for just four months, which is far below the standard one to two years of conscription seen abroad. Although the conscription period is intended to be extended to 12 months, this is expected to take close to a decade to significantly increase the capabilities of reserve units across the age range.

In parallel to issues with the equipment of reserve units, the Republic of China Ministry of National Defence has confirmed reports that the domestically produced CM-32 Clouded Leopard infantry fighting vehicles have suffered from structural cracks due to poor welding and metal fatigue. These defects have been found to have affected approximately one sixth of the fleet so far. The producer, the China Steel Machinery Corporation, acknowledged that welding quality required improvement and has begun to implement modifications. The Republic of China Armed Forces rely disproportionately heavily on domestically produced equipment largely due to difficulties importing from abroad, with the Republic of China government’s status as an effective non-state actor, due to the international community’s recognition of the rival People’s Republic of China government based in Beijing as the sole legitimate Chinese government, making arms imports highly challenging. The CM-32 has accordingly been relied on to serve as the Republic of China Army’s primary class of infantry fighting vehicle, despite a number of drawbacks compared to competing foreign vehicles.