Promoting what they say will be greater gender equality in the armed forces, officials from the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday the military will soon see a woman general -- the second in Taiwan's military history.
"There are now 48 female colonels in the military. From among them, the defense ministry will promote one to the rank of major general [army and air force] or rear admiral [navy]. It is sure to happen. I dare say very soon," said Captain Chin Huei-an (
"It is a policy priority set out by the premier-select and incumbent Minister of National Defense, Tang Fei (
We will follow Tang's instructions to have it done as soon as possible," Chin said. He did not give a timetable for the implementation of the plan.
At the same time, however, Chin suggested a large scale increase in the promotion of women officers to the position of general was unlikely, as most serving female colonels are not sufficiently experienced for the top positions.
Over the past five decades in Taiwan, there has only been one woman general, who was in the medical branch and retired years ago. No active-service woman has been a general since then.
Meanwhile, Colonel Ting Chien-chung (
There are around 6,800 women serving as officers or non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in the services, with most of them taking administrative or staff jobs, Ting said.
One defense official, who declined to be identified, said it was good for the military to have female personnel, but that assigning them to desk jobs was not such a positive sign.
The official said that there were too many female officers or NCO's in ministry offices already.
Defense Minister Tang has noted the problem, he said.
In fact he has instructed personnel officers to ensure that these women are transferred to field units after two to three years service.
If the military wants women personnel only for administrative work, the official said, it may as well hire people from the civilian sector to do it.
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
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘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)