The two brigades currently stationed in the Kinmen islands, which are only two kilometres (one mile) away from the Chinese city of Xiamen at the closest point, will be downsized from November, the China Times said.

The planned withdrawal, along with the pullout of another brigade completed in April, would cut the total number of troops in the island group to less than 10,000, the report said.

The defence ministry declined to comment on the report.

But Kinmen county chief Li Chu-feng said he estimated that only up to 3,000 soldiers would be deployed on main Kinmen island and the nearby islets following the military reshuffle.

Taiwan's nationalist Kuomintang government once had up to 100,000 troops in the Kinmens, as both a first line of defence against a possible invasion by rival China and a first contingent capable of attacking the mainland.

The KMT government fled the mainland after its troops were defeated by the Chinese communist forces led by Mao Zedong in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

But Taiwan has gradually reduced the size of the contingent there since the Kuomintang was forced from power, as the troops are no longer seen as capable of defending Taipei against China's growing missile arsenal.

"Because of the development of modern weaponry, the line used to separate the frontline and rear area is blurred," Li told AFP.

"Kinmen has no longer had military value...it's like a rusty dagger."

Beijing has vowed to reunify the island by force should it declare formal independence in any form or under any name.