Taiwan will officially begin training female armed reserve forces in May. That was the word from the Ministry of National Defense on Friday.
It said it plans to train 220 female reservists this year. They will be trained under the former five to seven day training regimen.
Taiwan began an intensive 14-day reservists training program last year which is being run alongside the shorter program. It plans to train 22,000 men this year under the two week program, up from the 15,000 trained last year.
According to the ministry, the reservists will be trained in combat skills and there will be no differentiation between the genders in training.
In the past, only men were required to train as reserves. Some have argued that constituted gender discrimination. Men in Taiwan are required to undergo military conscription and reservist training while women can volunteer to serve as soldiers and officers.
