The 18 percent preferential interest rate for retired military personnel is likely to be phased out in six years, in line with the government’s plan to reform the pensions of public employees.
“The same standard should apply to all public employees in terms of phasing out of the preferential interest rate, including military personnel, government employees and school teachers,” Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-yi (林萬億) said yesterday.
The government has announced that the adjustment of pensions for military personnel would be handled separately from those of civil servants and teachers, because the retirement ages of military personnel are lower than those in other lines of work and because retired military personnel are more likely to choose a lump-sum pension payout plan.
“However, the reform of the 18 percent interest rate should be carried out uniformly regardless of occupation, which was the understanding reached at the pension reform forums,” Lin said, adding that the government has yet to finalize the reform plan for military personnel.
A recently announced six-year phase-out plan for public employees would reduce the preferential interest rate every two years, with the rate falling to 9 percent after the first two years of retirement and then to 6 percent and 3 percent. It is to be 0 percent from the seventh year.
The same rules are expected to be applied to retired military personnel who chose a monthly pension payment, while a different plan might be in place for people who chose a lump-sum payout.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense has submitted draft reform plans to the Cabinet, seeking better pension benefits and higher income replacement ratios for military personnel, including a minimum pension that sustains basic living, Lin said, without revealing details.
Veterans Affairs Council Minister Lee Hsiang-jow (李翔宙) last week said that the minimum monthly pension for retired military personnel should be NT$40,000 to ensure a stable retirement, with the defense ministry supporting Lee’s proposal.
The proposal also discusses draft reform plans submitted by the defense ministry, but the measures have yet to be finalized, Lin said.
The defense ministry is expected to complete drafting the plans and submit them for legislative review along with the Cabinet’s pension reform plans by the end of this month, but it could be given more time if necessary, Lin said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
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
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai