Potential conscripts expressed mixed reactions over a significant pay raise announced by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Tuesday, after the government extended compulsory military service from four months to one year.
Tsai said the decision to extend compulsory military service was a tough one, but it had to be made “for the sustainable development and survival of Taiwan,” given that it takes more than four months to train a qualified solider.
Tsai also pledged to increase conscripts’ monthly pay, from a starting salary of NT$6,510 to NT$20,320, to ensure they have enough to cover basic daily expenses.
The military would also spend NT$5,987 per month on insurance coverage and food for each conscript, regardless of their length of service, which when added to the salary would come to NT$26,307 per month.
The plan would affect conscripts born on or after Jan. 1, 2005, and would take effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
The military estimated that 9,127 conscripts would serve for one year in the first year of the program.
A high-school student surnamed Chen (陳) who was born in 2006 and is likely to be required to complete a full year of military service, said on Tuesday that the extension had been anticipated in the past few months and the announcement was not a total surprise.
None of his classmates were talking about the service extension, he said.
“I suspect it is because there is no escape [from the extension], so whatever,” he said.
Asked if he believed the pay raise was a good incentive for the longer service period, Chen said it meant nothing to him, because “serving in the military means losing my freedom.”
Another high-school student surnamed Su (蘇) disagreed, saying that he believed one year of military service was “acceptable.”
“Four months is too short [for training], and one year could be more sufficient,” he said.
Su said the starting salary of more than NT$20,000 was also acceptable.
“After all, one might not be able to find a higher-paying job with a college degree,” he said.
Meanwhile, a man surnamed Wang (王) who did his military service in Taoyuan said that every month he spent NT$5,000 of his NT$6,510 salary to pay back student loans.
To save money, Wang, who lives in New Taipei City, said he rode his scooter to and from his military base in Taoyuan.
Others serving with him who lived in southern Taiwan spent almost all of their monthly pay on travel and daily expenses, he said, calling the pay increase “belated justice.”
Another man, surnamed Mai (梅), who served one year in a Hsinchu armored brigade during his service period, applauded the decision, saying it would help conscripts save money for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Han Gan-ming (韓岡明), a research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), said he believed the raise would make conscripts affected by the longer service period less angry and give them more incentive to serve.
INDSR research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said the government did its best to offer a significant pay raise, which should be applauded.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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
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