Military service members have been encouraged recently to learn English or sharpen their English proficiency under a program initiated by Army Commander-in-Chief Hu Chen-pu (
Lieutenant General Chou Yen-chung (
Based on this concept, Chou said, Hu ordered the implementation of a program late last year to encourage officers and enlisted soldiers to attend English classes to sharpen their English proficiency.
Meanwhile, Chou said that the army has also been pushing for the implementation of a "nine-to-five work schedule" to allow the greatest possible number of Army officers and soldiers to go home and have dinner with their families everyday.
The policy, however, is being carried out while making sure that personnel shifts for combat readiness are fully manned and executed, Chou added.
At the same time, the army has also launched a combat capability examination mechanism to ensure all higher-ranking army officers have the requisite skills, Chou said.
The new mechanism also examines matters related to Army morale and discipline, he added.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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