The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday rebutted a Chinese-language media report saying that the nation’s military would be downgraded to a self-defense force similar to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in light of the military’s continued downsizing.
The ministry said in a statement yesterday that the military is planning to cut its personnel to 215,000 by the end of this year, adding that the number would be sufficient to protect the country.
The statement cited President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as saying on Thursday that if the armed forces number about 0.6 or 0.7 percent of the nation’s total population, he remains confident that the military would be large enough to protect the nation.
The statement quoted Ma as saying that from a global perspective, the moderate downsizing has left a still relatively large military and has not diminished its ability to maintain strategic objectives of strong defense and effective deterrence.
The military is working toward becoming “small and elite; small and skilled; and small and strong,” which matches the global trend of military thinking — quality is more important than quantity, the statement quoted Ma as saying.
The ministry added that the Cabinet has approved a NT$3,127 billion (US$10.42 billion) annual budget for defense this year, the same amount as last year.
Although the Legislative Yuan cut the budget to NT$3,111 billion, the Cabinet has pledged to allocate more funds to the military should a significant arms procurement program be approved in the future.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition