STORY: TAIWAN men who refuse to serve in the military for personal or religious reasons have the option of fighting fires - or helping the elderly - under a new law that took effect yesterday.

The new law allows young men who must take care of their families - because parents are old or families members are handicapped - can apply for alternative service lasting 27 months.

Young men who refuse to be drafted for religious reasons can apply for alternative service lasting 33 months.

The Interior Ministry, which handles drafting, said there were 5,000 openings for alternative service this year.

A lottery will be held if demand outstrips available places.

Applicants can apply for positions in the police and fire service, as environmental protection workers, or as nurses for the elderly and handicapped.

Military service is mandatory for all men in Taiwan, but some have refused to be drafted for personal or religious reasons.

Nearly 100 Jehovah's Witnesses have been jailed for refusing to be involved in military service.

Registered under the name ``Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society'' in Taiwan, the Jehovah's Witness group is known to avoid politics and rejects the idea that weapons can achieve peace.

Annually, an average of 150,000 young men are conscripted for the mandatory two-year military service term.

Under pressure from lawyers and religious groups, former defence minister Chiang Chung-ling said last year he approved alternative service because streamlining the armed forces would free up some 30,000 conscripts a year.

Taiwan's military yesterday also toned down remarks about the mainland military, one week after warning that the rival forces may be gearing up for war games.

Military spokesman Kung Fan-ding declined to discuss last week's reports that mainland bombers and warships were holding unusual manoeuvers.

The news prompted a 4.3 per cent drop in the stock market and criticism of the military for unnecessarily alarming the public.

Mr Kung said the mainland was holding routine maneuvers, adding that Taiwan has not noticed any large-scale exercises or unusual concentration of troops.

``The (Taiwanese) military has a firm grasp of what the communist military is doing. When it does not compromise our intelligence sources or national security, we will inform citizens of the communist army's situation,'' Mr Kung said at the National Defense University. - Agencies