The Republic of China Armed Forces () are the military forces of the Republic of China (Taiwan), which is now based primarily on Taiwan and surrounding islands, but formerly governed mainland China prior to 1949. The armed forces comprise the Army, Navy (including the Marine Corps), Air Force, and Military Police Force. The military operates under the civilian control of the Ministry of National Defense, a cabinet-level body overseen by the Legislative Yuan.
Formerly known as the National Revolutionary Army (NRA), it was renamed the Republic of China Armed Forces in 1947 due to the implementation of the newly promulgated Constitution of the Republic of China. It was also historically referred to as the Chinese National Armed Forces (CNAF) prior to the establishment of the People's Republic of China on the Chinese mainland and the gradual loss of international recognition in the 1970s by the United Nations and many countries, including the ROC's close ally, the United States.
Until the late 1970s, the primary mission of the ROC Armed Forces was to prepare for a counteroffensive aimed at retaking mainland China from the Communists, as exemplified by efforts such as Project National Glory. Following strategic shifts and Taiwan's evolving political landscape, the military's focus turned towards the defence of Taiwan itself against potential invasion by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which continues to be perceived as the principal threat.
The ROC Armed Forces today maintain an approximate active strength of 150,000 personnel, with the capability to mobilise up to 1.67 million reservists in times of national emergency or full-scale war. A significant pool of former conscripts is available, as all able-bodied male citizens of the ROC are required to undertake at least one year of compulsory military service upon reaching the age of 18.
Etymology The Republic of China Armed Forces is the national military of the ROC. In Taiwan, it is commonly referred to as the National Armed Forces, pronounced Kuo2-Chün1 in Mandarin (, literally "National Army"). This term is also widely used among overseas Chinese communities supportive of Taiwan or the ROC government. Colloquially, it is also known in mainland China and elsewhere worldwide in an international context as the Taiwanese Armed Forces () to distinguish from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
When the ROC was in power in mainland China, its army was the National Revolutionary Army before being renamed as the Republic of China Armed Forces in 1947 due to the implementation of the Constitution of the Republic of China. Prior to the establishment of the PRC in 1949, the ROC military was also widely referred to internationally as the Nationalist Forces, a term that continued to be used by some countries until the 1970s.
History Mainland era
Prior to 1947, the ROC Armed Forces were known as the National Revolutionary Army, which was founded by Sun Yat-sen in Guangdong in 1924. Because the Republic of China was divided by warlords since the 1911 Revolution, he wanted to create a military that would be politically dominated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (the Kuomintang). Sun Yat-sen accepted the help of the Soviet Union in creating a Soviet-style military and party system. As part of this effort, the Whampoa Military Academy was founded on 1 May 1924 with Soviet trainers and equipment. The Whampoa Academy provided politically indoctrinated officers that were loyal to the ideals of the Revolution and the Kuomintang Party. A Political Department was established in the Army, training political officers to maintain the Kuomintang's ideological and civilian control.
The National Revolutionary Army fought in the Northern Expedition from 1926 to 1928 to reunite China under one government for the first time in two decades. It fought in the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, and then against the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War. After the ROC military was defeated by the Communists on the mainland in 1949, the Nationalists evacuated to Taiwan.
Cold War
The promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947 renamed the National Revolutionary Army to the Republic of China Armed Forces (). Although the army was theoretically nationalized, it remained effectively a party army of the Kuomintang until the 1990s. The United States began providing military supplies and equipment to the ROC after the Korean War broke out, and in 1951 the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) Taiwan was created. The ROC military received extensive support from the United States, with MAAG helping set up dozens of military schools (including each branch having its own staff college and officer academy), providing American vehicles, aircraft, ships, and weapons, and restructuring the ROC Army. In 1957, U.S. Ambassador Karl Rankin described the ROC as having the second largest Asian military allied to the United States. In the late 1950s, the ROC Armed Forces had 600,000 troops, including 375,000 in the Army and 17,000 political officers.
During the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1954 and 1955, the People's Liberation Army gained air and naval superiority over the ROC Armed Forces near the Dachen and Yijiangshan islands, forcing the ROC to give them up, after artillery fire from the mainland and attacks by PLA Air Force bombers and PLA Navy PT boats. But the ROC prevented the situation from happening again during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958, when its garrison on the Kinmen Islands held out through an artillery barrage, the ROC Air Force shot down many PLAAF jets while losing far less of its own, and the Navy sunk some of their PT boats. The ROC Marine Corps used its amphibious vehicles to deliver supplies to the population of the Kinmen Islands while under artillery fire from the mainland. In the 1960s the ROC sent military personnel to assist South Vietnam during the Vietnam War in non-combat roles.
Up until the late 1980s, the ROC military's objective was to eventually retake the mainland. That strategy changed in the 1990s with the understanding that challenging the PRC's control of the mainland was unrealistic, and instead focused on defending Taiwan and its offshore islands. At first this consisted of both offensive and defensive methods, before becoming focused only on the defensive. To reflect this change, a ten-year restructuring plan for the Armed Forces was proposed in 1993 but it was cancelled in 1995 and replaced by another plan, known as the Armed Forces streamlining program, which was adopted by the government in December 1996. The end of the martial law in Taiwan in 1987 also led to a series of administrative reforms, occurring at the same time as the political changes. These included ending the Kuomintang's political control of the military.
Post-Cold War The ROC military bureaucracy was traditionally dominated by the Army, which was primarily an infantry force, until the late 1980s, when more emphasis was placed on the Navy and Air Force. In July 1997, the Armed Forces streamlining program was started, reducing the total number of troops and reorganizing Army divisions into more mobile combined arms brigades. In the late 1980s, the Army had 270,000 personnel, out of a total military of over 500,000. The Army received the biggest reduction in size as part of the military reform. By 2003, the Army was reduced to 199,237 soldiers, while the other services included 56,284 in the Navy (including Marines), 55,170 in the Air Force, 15,015 in the Combined Logistics Command, and 14,168 in the Military Police. The reduction in the number of troops continued during the presidency of Chen Shui-bian from 2000 to 2008. Taiwan's transition to democracy also meant that the Armed Forces had to transition from being the armed wing of the KMT to a modern national military. This was a challenge with change resisted by many officers.
In January 2000, two defence laws were passed, the National Defense Law and the Ministry of National Defense Reorganization Law, which both took effect in March 2002. The laws created the basis for the civilian control and nationalization of the ROC military, by subordinating the General Staff to a civilian Minister of Defense, and created new organizations at the MND to improve strategic planning and armaments procurement. The two defence laws were also passed in part because of a scandal during the 1990s about the ROC Navy's decision to purchase certain French frigates, which involved bribery of senior officials and the death of the officer in charge of navy procurement, and resulted in years of investigations. The effect of the post-1987 military reforms was integrating the military into a democratic political system: before 2000 Taiwan's defence policy was controlled by generals, and since then it has been set by the lawmakers. The military has also been included in the truth and reconciliation process which followed the transition from dictatorship to democracy.
In the 21st century as the PRC vastly increased its defence spending, the Republic of China registered the lowest growth in defence spending of the major Asia-Pacific powers.Isenberg, David. "Shifting Defense Expenditures in East Asia". Time, 26 October 2012. These cutbacks were felt as vital land based systems were cut in order to afford an upgrade of aging fourth generation jet fighters (needed to respond to the PRC's fifth generation fighter programs). And even the jet fighter upgrades were cut back in areas such as high performance jet engines.Cole, Michael J. "Taipei cuts budget for F-16 upgrades". Taipei Times, 10 February 2012. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission found that these defence cuts could jeopardize Taiwan's military preparedness.
By 2008 the ROC military had a total strength of 260,000. In 2013 the ROC Armed Forces had over 240,000 active troops, which was reduced to 215,000 as of 2015, and then to 180,000 by 2023. The International Institute of Strategic Studies reported the active duty personnel of the military in 2023 as 169,000. President Tsai Ing-wen, who took office in 2016, has worked to strengthen the military, including by raising its budget, creating the All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency, and restoring conscription from four months to twelve months. President Lai Ching-te announced a plan in November 2025 to increase Taiwan's annual military spending to T$1.25 trillion (US$39.89 billion) over the next eight years. He also stated that the ROC armed forces will be raised to a high level of combat readiness by 2027. In 2026, the military budget will be greater than 3% of Taiwan's GDP for the first time since 2009.
Organization
The professional head of the Armed Forces is the Chief of the General Staff, who answers to the civilian command structure under the Minister of National Defense and the ROC President. Below the Chief are the Executive Vice Chief of the General Staff and two other Vice Chiefs, who oversee the Political Warfare Department and several Deputy Chiefs of the General Staff, each of whom leads a section (J-1 personnel, J-2 intelligence, J-3 operations, J-4 logistics, and J-5 planning). The headquarters of each individual branch are subordinated to the General Staff.
The following service commands are directly subordinate to the General Staff. Republic of China Army (ROCA) Republic of China Navy (ROCN) Republic of China Marine Corps (ROCMC) Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) Republic of China Military Police (ROCMP)
The Coast Guard Administration was created in 2001 from related police and military units and is administered by the Executive Yuan and may be incorporated as a military branch during times of emergency but for the large part remains in civilian control.
Army