President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday asked the Ministry of National Defense to loosen restrictions on leave taken by members of the armed services, which have been in place since May 13 to help prevent the spread of SARS.
All service members and cadets of military academies had their regular leave suspended for at least two weeks and were ordered to stay at their barracks.
However, the move created discontent and anxiety within the military, which has been tasked with various missions to help counter the SARS epidemic
"If the MND can develop an overall measure to properly help servicemen avoid SARS, the current severe regulation of restricting their leave should be loosened," Chen said during a teleconference with Premier Yu Shyi-kun and leaders of the government's anti-SARS task force yesterday.
Since Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (
The navy headquarters confirmed that Chen Chih-chung took his regular leave, but Tang said that he enjoyed no special privilege because the headquarters was not included in the restrictions.
Responding to the president's suggestion to relax the measures, Lee Ming-liang (李明亮), vice chairman of the Cabinet-level SARS Control and Relief Committee and top coordinator of the nationwide campaign against SARS, said yesterday that a decision on whether to lift the ban on leave would be made within the next few days.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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