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.
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
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
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS