A group of ruling DPP lawmakers yesterday questioned the wisdom of an experimental all-volunteer recruitment program proposed by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) for the next fiscal year.
The MND has appropriated NT$1.29 billion in its fiscal year 2003 budget plan for recruiting volunteers to staff three selected units in the armed forces -- an armored infantry battalion, a marine infantry battalion and an air force guard battalion.
Members of the DPP's legislative defense policy research panel said that, as the three units do not really require high levels of professional skills and expertise, they can be manned by conscripts.
"At a time when the government faces a shortfall of funds, is it appropriate for the MND to waste money on such an experimental program?" Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) asked at a news conference.
In his view, Lee said, the MND should instead set up new units that truly require sophisticated professional technologies, such as an electronic warfare unit, a battlefield management unit and a special warfare unit.
"The MND can recruit both volunteers and conscripts to man those special professional units in the initial stage," Lee suggested, adding that if the MND fails to give a good reason for going through with its all-volunteer program -- or fails to make suitable adjustments -- he will push for a cut in the experimental program's budget.
Another member of the DPP panel, Legislator Kuo Jung-chung (郭榮宗), said the MND should cash in on the trend that more young people are willing to enter into military academies to enhance professionalism in the armed forces.
"While experimenting with an all-volunteer recruitment system, the MND should give top priority to professionalism. Otherwise, the experimental program will be meaningless," Kuo noted.
Meanwhile, Legislator Tang Hou-sheng (湯火聖) expressed disappointment at the continued increases in personnel spending in the MND budget.
Noting that personnel fees account for 55.79 percent of the MND's NT$261.5 billion for the coming year, Tang said the figure indicates that the military's budget structure has not been planned in line with the government's 10-year troops reduction plan aimed at building up an elite deterrent force.
"We'll invite the relevant MND officials to deliver a report to the Legislature's defense committee on the military's personnel trimming plan, personnel deployment and future budget planning," Tang said.
More worrisome is that the MND's spending on weaponry procurement and defense technology research has continued to decline, Tang said, adding that weapon and military equipment procurement accounts for only 21 percent of the MND's 2003 budget, down from this year's level.
He also questioned the value of the MND's NT$6.16 billion budget plan for purchasing LVT-7 amphibious armored landing tanks.
"I think the military should better use its financial resources on improving its capabilities to counter China's asymmetric and unlimited warfare strategies as well as its combined services combat capabilities," he asserted.
According to the DPP legislative panel's study, Tang said, the planned procurement of US-built Kidd-class destroyers can largely upgrade the Taiwan Navy's combat capabilities. "We hope the MND will offer more information to help the general public better understand the necessity of buying these new warships."
The US has agreed to sell four Kidd-class destroyers to Taiwan, but some opposition lawmakers remain reluctant to endorse the MND's budget plan for the procurement.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS