Beginning January next year, Taiwan will restructure its army with the focus on joint operations among various units and on giving regional commanders more operational flexibility in case of a conflict. Five Corps of the army will be renamed as combat theatre commands, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng has told parliament. There will be one theatre command each for the Penghu islands west of Taiwan and the areas of eastern, northern, southern and central Taiwan.
Each theatre command will rally the armed forces in a particular region to enhance interoperability and coordinate operations during war or peacetime operations. Currently, each Corps is led by an Army General but the possibility of a theatre command being helmed by officers from other services has been left open.
