Legislators are working on an amendment to the National Defense Law (
"The current legislation on military personnel promotion has been in place for decades. It requires less specialization and is incapable of effectively transforming the military to a more professional level," Lee told a hearing on the proposed amendment at the legislature yesterday.
Lee, one of the writers of the amendment, said that he and fellow legislators have had more than 50 meetings with military officials about the proposal, and have taken the officials' opinions into account in the drafting of the amendment.
The Ministry of National Defense supports the amendment, which will be handed to the legislature for approval soon, Lee added.
While military personnel currently need to complete certain specified courses at the National Defense University's War College to become eligible for most of the country's significant military positions, the amendment would change the minimum requirement to at least a master's degree in military science at the War College, Lee said.
Current legislation also stipulates that officials at the level of director or vice director must have at least one year of experience in the field to which they are appointed.
The amendment would require senior officials to have at least five years' experience in a relevant field before being appointed to high-level positions, Lee said.
KMT Legislator Shuai Hua-min (帥化民), who is a retired lieutenant-general, said at the hearing that although the current low requirements for military promotions enable the ministry to easily manage its human resources, they were ineffective in building an advanced military.
"The failures in effectively carrying out a number of military projects ... have been the result of inexperienced officials being put in charge of the project," Shuai said.
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