The Ministry of National Defense must offer measures to meet the quota for military personnel for a full-volunteer military force planned for next year while taking falling birth rates into consideration, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Wednesday.
DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said the Republic of China (ROC) Military Academy had drawn 6,311, 7,175 and 5,802 recruits in 2014, last year and this year respectively.
Ministry Deputy Chief of General Staff for Personnel Lieutenant General Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) said the ROC Military Academy was 210 students short this year.
However, Hsu said that there were still 300 students who were qualified for the academy, but have not yet enrolled at the academy, as their scores were good enough to be accepted to other higher-education providers.
The ministry would be asking them what their intentions are and striving to “recruit as many people as possible,” Hsu said.
The committee passed a first reading of a draft amendment on select parts of the Act of Military Education (軍事教育條例), which says that the ministry should cooperate with select vocational schools and junior colleges, with the latter agreeing to provide military courses so that military personnel would be able to seek higher honors.
The courses would be exempt from restrictions on student numbers and recruitment methods stipulated in the University Act (大學法) and Junior College Act (專科學校法) if the amendments are passed, Hsu said, adding that in the future the ministry would also set up associate degrees, bachelor degrees and master degrees in military areas.
The ministry announced that it was looking to work with a total of 16 facilities.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said that most of them were private institutions.
The ministry should look into whether any of the education providers are scheduled by the Ministry of Education for closure to avoid embarrassment and hurting incentives, Chiang said.
The defense ministry said it would take Chiang’s suggestion into consideration.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Lu Sun-ling (呂孫綾) questioned the defense ministry’s inclusion of certificates on aromatics and scents, as well as funeral service certificates, in a list of 20 courses.
Deputy Minister of National Defense Lee Hsi-ming (李喜明) said that the courses were designed to be diverse and inclusive to better provide a fall-back expertise for retired soldiers.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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