Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"The biggest advantage of an all-volunteer force is that the majority of male citizens of conscriptable age won't be drafted. This means they can make a contribution to society in the fields of business, industry and especially in high-tech [fields]," Ma said, unveiling his defense white paper at a press conference in Kaohsiung.
Ma said he would increase the recruitment of high-quality and self-motivated enlisted servicemen year- on-year with the draft system to be phased out by 2014 at the latest.
He also promised to raise the basic salary of enlisted servicemen to twice the minimum wage, about NT$10,000 higher than the wage service personnel receive now.
Under the plan, male of conscriptable age would still be required to undertake three months of `military education training' to qualify as reservists in the armed forces, while this would be optional for females.
Among the goals of Ma's defense policy are building a new professional national army and preventing war in the Taiwan Strait.
Saying that his defense policy is governed by the principle of "defensive strategy," Ma said he would advance cross-strait reconciliation with the backing of the country's military strength and would never develop nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.
Ma said he would ask China to remove the missiles targeted at Taiwan and would negotiate with Beijing to establish a mechanism to create military trust and conduct military exchanges as well as sign a peace agreement. He did not elaborate.
Ma also vowed to make the Taiwan Strait a nuclear-free zone and to abide by Resolution 1540 adopted by the UN Security Council in 2004, on the non-proliferation of biological and chemical weapons.
Ma said that annual military expenditure would be no less than 3 percent of GDP.
"As China has been modernizing its military, we have to procure advanced weapons from other countries to ensure Taiwan's security," Ma said.
Despite the fact that the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) defense budget request was cut by the KMT and the People First Party in the legislature, Ma yesterday slammed the government for slashing the budget which he said had led to military imbalance in the Taiwan Strait.
"Since the DPP came to power, it has pushed for de jure independence in a provocative way and greatly reduced the defense budget year by year. Defense spending accounted for only 2.27 percent of the country's GDP in 2005," Ma said.
Commenting on Ma's defense white paper at a separate setting yesterday, DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), said it was "contradictory" and "uncreative."
While Ma proposed to phase out conscription within four to six years and replace it with all-volunteer armed services, Hsieh said that DPP policy has for some time been geared toward reducing the proportion of conscripts in the armed forces.
It is also DPP policy that the defense budget should represent 3 percent of GDP, a goal which will be achieved naturally when all soldiers are recruited through enlistment, Hsieh said.
"Ma's proposals only indicate that he knows little about the issue," Hsieh said.
While Ma recommended strengthening defense capabilities, Hsieh said the public must not forget that it was the KMT -- especially when Ma was the party chairman -- that boycotted the defense budget in the legislature.
"Ma apparently does not care about national security," Hsieh said. "We must not be surprised because he does not think Taiwan is a state."
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)