The legislature yesterday passed an amendment to the National Defense Act (國防法) that would oblige the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to submit a quadrennial defense review to the Legislative Yuan within 10 months of a new president taking office.
In accordance with the amendment, the MND is required to present its first review by March 20 next year.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), who proposed the amendment, said the proposal is modeled on the US Military Force Structure Review Act.
“The objective of this amendment is to ask our president to review national defense policy immediately after assuming office and to propose new short-term strategies based on changes in the international political scene,” he said.
Lin urged the MND to discuss the structure of the nation’s military force, the promotion of military recruitment and major military investments with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Vice Minister of National Defense Lin Yu-bao (林於�?old the legislature’s Diplomacy and National Defense Committee during the preliminary review of the amendment on Monday that the MND believed one version of the review should be released to the public, while another should be classified.
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