Exemptions from military service still largely due to overweight: MOI

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) The main reason for military service exemptions in Taiwan over the past decade has been overweight issues, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said Wednesday, amid recent scandals about conscription evasion.

Each year, roughly 16 percent of eligible men - around 17,000 - are exempted from compulsory service, according to the MOI's Department of Conscription Administration (DCA).

Over the past years, 30 percent of the exemptions have been due to overweight problems, the DCA said.

Other common reasons include low intelligence scores, flat or deformed feet, irregular heartbeat, and mental health conditions, DCA data showed.

The information was released amid an ongoing probe into allegations that multiple entertainers had evaded military conscription by fraudulent means.

Earlier this week, four actors and vocal artists were detained and questioned about allegedly evading military conscription. They were released on bail Tuesday after admitting to paying for falsified medical reports.

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During a legislative session on Wednesday, Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said fake medical certificates citing high blood pressure to evade military service were "very common." Other fake health reasons included psychiatric disorders, an inflammatory spinal disease called ankylosing spondylitis, and a lung condition known as pneumothorax, he said.

The MOI and the Ministry of National Defense (MND) are now reviewing the criteria for military fitness classification, amid a recent scandal in which several entertainers were accused of evading conscription through falsified medical records, DCA officials told CNA.

Under the current rules, men with a body mass index (BMI) of over 35 qualify for exemption, the officials said, adding that the government is now considering raising that threshold to 45.

Body mass index is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters (kg/m²).

In Taiwan, all eligible male citizens must enter military service for at least one year, usually starting around the age of 18, in accordance with the Act of Military Service for Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces.

During the period 2013 to 2023, compulsory military service was reduced to four months, and the exemption rate was around 20 to 25 percent, according to MOI officials.

When Taiwan reverted in 2024 to the one-year requirement, the exemption rate dropped to 16 percent, but it remains higher than desired, the officials said.

From January to August this year, being overweight again topped the list of exemption reasons, followed by foot deformities, irregular heartbeat, low cognitive scores, and neurosis, MOI data showed.

Between 2015 and 2024, a total of 2,146 people were prosecuted for leaving Taiwan without approval to avoid conscription, while 572 were charged with intentionally injuring themselves or falsifying medical records to alter their fitness category.

Of those 572 cases, 125 reached the courts, with 94 resulting in prison terms of less than six months and one receiving a sentence of up to two years, according to MOI data.