Military personnel retirement rates over the past three years have remained steady, and have even dropped significantly so far this year, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday, rebutting a report by online media RW News that a spike in military retirement threatens national security.
The number of officers who retired from the military last year dropped by 325 people compared with the previous year, while 82 percent of officers of retirement age have opted to remain in service, the ministry said.
The Chinese-language media Web site reported that graduates of the 2004 class of officers have served a full 20 years and are eligible for retirement.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The report added that the 2015 class of officers — most of whom are now lieutenants, majors and captains — are planning to retire en masse as they have now reached the minimum years of service for retirement.
Like other industries, the military has to deal with issues such as a declining birthrate and offering wages that are comparable to civilian compensation to retain talent, the ministry.
The military has responded by increasing wages for volunteer and combat troops, enacted policies to increase military benefits — such as improving base facilities and housing for military dependents — and utilizing better equipment, such as new rifles, the ministry said.
The ministry called on the media to stop spreading false reports that besmirch the military, whose members are committed and are training tirelessly to protect the nation against ever-increasing threats to the country’s sovereignty and freedom.
Separately, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said he believed that no ministry personnel are involved in an ongoing investigation on alleged spying for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑), the assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), is under investigation for allegedly spying for the CCP from the time he started working at the foreign affairs ministry in 2018 until last year.
Ho had not worked for the National Security Council or the defense ministry, Koo said, adding that security background checks were conducted every three years and he believed no defense ministry personnel were involved in the incident.
Commenting on the RW News report, Koo said that the military personnel retention rate has increased by 3.25 percent this year, but added that the defense ministry cannot afford to be complacent and should continue to improve its policies to maximize personnel and officer retention.
Asked about the indigenous submarine Hai Kun (海鯤), or “Narwhal,” that Taiwan is building, Koo said it should not undergo sea trials until it has “aced” its harbor acceptance test.
That is contrary to the navy’s agreement with shipbuilder CSBC that the submarine would undergo sea trials in the middle of or later this month.
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