Saying that Aborigines should enjoy the same right to promotion as anyone else, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said he expected a number to be raised to the rank of general in the near future.
The officers Chen referred to are thought to be major-generals or rear-admirals since there are currently no Aboriginal generals in the military.
"In the near future, we expect to see Aboriginal generals in the military," Chen said. "This will demonstrate our concern for underprivileged groups, especially the Aborigines."
Chen made the announcement yesterday in a speech at a year-end promotion ceremony for 38 colonels, captains, major-generals and rear-admirals, who became major-generals or rear-admirals and lieutenant-generals or vice-admirals at the ceremony.
Besides Aborigines, Chen also emphasized a concern for fairness toward women, citing the promotion of a female officer to major-general as an example.
Major-General Pan Ai-chu (潘愛珠), political warfare chief of the Military Intelligence Bureau, is the first woman officer to be promoted to general in 35 years. Pan was among the 38 senior military officers who were promoted to higher ranks yesterday.
"The promotion of the first female general in 35 years demonstrates not only that women are being recognized for their contribution to the military but also that efforts to promote gender equality in the military have been made concrete," Chen said.
"I have always put great emphasis during my political career on the promotion of gender-equality and care for underprivileged groups. I would like to see military women enjoy the same rights and opportunities as women in the workplace," the president said.
"When I was the mayor of Taipei, the percentage of women who were department heads in the Taipei City Government was the highest of all levels of government," he said.
"Since becoming president last year, I have sought to appoint women to one-quarter of all Cabinet positions."
Chen's emphasis on women's issues, however, garnered less attention than his comments on promoting Aboriginal equality. Aborigines are even more underprivileged than women in the military.
While three non-Aboriginal origin women have been promoted to general in all of Taiwanese history, only one Aborigine is known to have reached that rank.
Deceased retired major-general Kao Wei-ho (高巍和), of Taitung, was the first and only Aborigine known to have risen to the rank of general.
Currently, few senior Aboriginal officers are qualified for promotion to major-general or rear-admiral, a defense official said.
"If we could choose generals from among Aborigines serving as non-commissioned officers, the chances of finding candidates would be better. But this would violate the rules. There are many non-commissioned officers of Aboriginal origin, but not so many officers," the official said.
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