Taiwan will trim military forces by 20% in five years

Taiwan's military will trim its forces by about a fifth by 2014 and shift toward a more defensive posture, the province announced yesterday.

The Quadrennial Defense Review, the first defense white paper under leader Ma Ying-jeou, who favors a peace agreement with the mainland, said Taiwan will reduce its troop numbers from the current count of about 275,000 to about 215,000 over the next five years, strengthening unit combat capability.

"The army will adopt a defensive strategy, (which includes) never carrying out the first strike," the paper said.