The head of the Veterans Affairs Commission denied yesterday that the commission, on orders from the Executive Yuan, has told retired servicemen to participate in the March 20 referendum.
Commission chairman Teng Tsu-lin (
Teng also denied that the commission has used administrative resources to drum up support for President Chen Shui-bian's (
Teng made the remarks in response to questions raised by People First Party (PFP) legislators Chin Hui-chu (
The lawmakers also expressed concern that elderly veterans would have trouble casting three ballots without some confusion.
Teng said that he is confident that the veterans, despite being elderly, will have no problems and will choose wisely.
"Our veterans have a great deal of common sense and they are well informed from watching TV and reading newspapers," Teng said.
In related news, Teng told the committee that the government is not suspending the monthly pensions of veterans who have settled in China.
He said the government is continuing to pay pensions to the 5,514 veterans who are now living in China but have not applied for resident status or a passport from the PRC.
The Examination Yuan recently passed a regulation stipulating that retired servicemen, civil servants and school teachers will have to receive their retirement pensions in one lump sum rather than in monthly payments if they reside in China.
If they don't apply for a lump-sum payment, they may risk having their pensions withheld.
The commission has assigned personnel to China on a yearly basis to check whether veterans residing there have received ID cards issued by Beijing, Teng said.
He added that commission officials had been relieved to find that none of veteran s in China had accepted Chinese identification papers.
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
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