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.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS