A draft bill that would allow former spouses of military retirees to claim half of their ex-spouse’s pension after divorce — part of the proposed military pension reforms — was set aside for further deliberation yesterday after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) said the rule could be exploited.
Lawmakers yesterday sparred about the proposal during cross-caucus negotiations over pension reform plans.
The proposal could spawn social problems, as it could motivate some people to marry high-ranking officials only to divorce them later in hopes of claiming half of their pension, Ma said.
Photo: CNA
The Civil Code already sufficiently covers divorce, rendering the proposal redundant, KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said, adding that it could “reopen old wounds” for long-divorced litigants, who might have to appear in court to settle the division of property anew.
Japan, Germany and a number of Western countries have introduced similar rules on the division of pensions in the case of divorce, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said.
The pushback against the proposal is caused by rumors and misunderstanding, she said, adding that she does not believe people would purposefully marry military personnel for financial gain.
The DPP caucus proposed the bill to protect military spouses who are homemakers and are not paid for the labor they contribute to their marriages, Yu said, adding that it is only reasonable that pensions should be split equally.
However, Ministry of Civil Service and Ministry of Justice officials said that the prerequisite for splitting pensions only stands when both sides of a marriage have an income and the laws governing the profession of each party make stipulations on the distribution of assets.
A scenario in which only one party needs to pay does not exist, they said.
Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) and Veteran Affairs Council Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said that the Civil Code should govern divorce procedures.
Seeing as the discussion had become deadlocked, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) announced that the amendment would be set aside for further deliberation.
FEW REMAIN: Conservationists tried to stop the demolition, but to no avail, and the owner cannot be fined, as the structure was not listed as a historical building One of the few remaining Japanese colonial-era granaries in Taiwan was dismantled by its owner on Friday, prompting outrage from conservationists. The granary, which was at No. 16, Lane 11, Hangzhou S Rd Sec 1 in Taipei, belonged to Taiwan Takushoku Corp during the colonial era, conservationist Chang Wan-lin (張琬琳) said, adding that she and others had been collecting information to reapply to have the building protected as a historical structure. During the colonial era, the granary served the area from Monga (艋舺) to what is now Songshan District (松山) in the north, she said. “Back then the eastern part
SEEING THE POSITIVE: A majority of respondents in Taiwan said that they favored Trump because they think Taiwan-US ties would improve with him Among eight Asia-Pacific countries and regions, only Taiwan prefers US President Donald Trump over his challenger, former US vice president Joe Biden, in the upcoming US presidential election, a survey released on Thursday showed. According to the poll published by UK-based market research firm YouGov, 42 percent of Taiwanese favor Trump in the Nov. 3 election, while 30 percent back Biden and 28 percent have no opinion. In contrast, respondents in Malaysia favor Biden over Trump 62 percent to 9 percent, and in Singapore by 66 percent to 12 percent, the survey showed. Biden also led Trump in Australia (60 percent to 21
TROUBLEMAKER: The missiles, capable of striking up to 2,000km away, would likely be used to deter other nations from coming to Taiwan’s aid, a legislator said The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has reportedly deployed advanced hypersonic missiles along China’s southeast coast, which Taiwan’s missile defense system might have difficulty intercepting, an analyst said yesterday. Citing an unnamed military source, the South China Morning Post said that the missile bases on the coasts of China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces have been upgraded and are stocked with DF-17 missiles, equipped with hypersonic glide vehicles. “The DF-17 hypersonic missile will gradually replace the old DF-11s and DF-15s that were deployed in the southeast region for decades,” said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “The
Hong Kong air traffic controllers turning away a Taiwanese flight last week might have been China’s first move in a broader campaign to restrict Taiwan’s air access to its outlying islands, a retired air force general said on Saturday. The government needs to establish a response plan in the event that aircraft are denied entry to Flight Information Regions (FIRs) en route to Kinmen and Matsu, among others islands, retired lieutenant general Chang Yen-ting (張延廷) said. The Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of the Interior, as well as the Straits Exchange Foundation and Mainland Affairs Council, must
RSS