The Legislative Yuan on Friday passed the third reading of a new bill that would award bonuses to reservists who undergo additional training.
Under the bill, reservists would receive a bonus for each training session they attend after the fifth session, and their employer could deduct 150 percent of the reservist’s regular salary during the additional sessions from their taxes.
The bill is to take effect on Jan. 1 next year.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
“The war in Ukraine has shown us the importance of mobilizing reservists, and of the participation of all citizens in national defense,” Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said.
The bonuses are meant to complement the reservists’ 14-day training schedule introduced in March, he said, adding that the policy aims to encourage reservists to pursue further training, while minimizing the impact of their absence on employers.
Regulations on which reservists are to be eligible for additional training and the bonuses, as well as other specifics related to the bill, are to be drafted by the Ministry of National Defense and sent to the Cabinet for approval, he said.
Under the bill, reservists would also have their fees waived if they seek treatment at any Tri-Service General Hospital or Armed Forces General Hospital branch in the year following a completed training session or military service.
During that year, reservists could also stay at any Hero House location and shop at the ministry’s General Welfare Service outlets.
Also on Friday, a resolution was passed requiring the ministry to each year release a list of the reservists to be called up for training the following year.
The resolution stipulates that reservists who are not called up in a given year, but who want to volunteer for additional training receive the same benefits and bonuses.
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA
RSS