I was talking to a colleague from Taiwan today.  This poor guy cannot go back to Taiwan, not even visiting, or he will be throw into jail once he landed.  He came to Canada to study highschool and university hence escaped the 2 years military service.  Although he is now a Canadian citizen, he cannot renounce his Taiwan citizenship until he had served his term.   As long as he is a Taiwan citizen, he will be subject to the Taiwanese law once he set foot on Taiwan.  He said that even changing his name cannot escape the military service, somehow the Taiwan government know you are the same person.  I feel sorry for him that he can’t even go home to visit his parents back in Taiwan.  Military service a very unproductive policy.  Young men wasted two years in the army, not learning anything particularly useful.  The talented who study aboard won’t come back to the country since the cost of spending two years in the army is too high.  People should not forced to join the army.  The army should just hire its soilders like the police hire policemen.  Making it a true profession instead of forcing the unwilling young men to join will improve the quality and fighting power of the army.  Military service is a thing of the past when the number of men determine the outcome of a war.  In future wars, technology and elite soldiers can make up with a smaller army by fighting more efficiently.  The army will only have soldiers who control the weapons and the technicians and engineers who supporting the weapons.  There is no need for the foot soldiers, except maybe a small team of special operation force.