Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) yesterday fired back at the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus who accused him of creating a rift in society with his criticism of retired generals demanding higher pensions.
Tuan, an outspoken proponent of pension reform, made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting at the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign and National Defense Committee lawmakers with Veteran Affairs Council Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正)
The KMT caucus earlier yesterday held a news conference accusing Tuan of causing a divide in society and “stigmatizing” veterans who had devoted their lives to defending the nation.
Photo: CNA
The KMT caucus added that it would boycott the Cabinet’s pension reform plan for veterans until Tuan apologizes.
In response, Tuan accused the KMT of distorting his words, which were directed at retired generals and not all veterans.
According to a formula in the bill, retired generals and lieutenant generals who have served for 35 years are eligible for a monthly pension exceeding NT$170,000.
The draft bill unreasonably favors a handful of tenured former military officers, which is disproportionate compared with the package introduced for military personnel with fewer years of service, Tuan said.
An agreement reached during the Presidential Office’s Pension Reform Committee meetings already promises qualified retired generals and lieutenant generals a generous monthly pension of NT$150,000, but that apparently was not enough to satisfy retired military officers leading the negotiations with the government, Tuan said.
“I cannot think of any way to describe them other than greedy,” Tuan said.
It is the KMT caucus that is causing social division by deliberately misrepresenting him to curry favor with retired generals, he said.
“I believe the KMT caucus owes me an apology,” he said.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS