President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday touted her administration’s military reforms.
She also said military personnel would receive a 4 percent wage hike on Jan. 1 next year.
She made the announcement during a joint graduation ceremony for six military academies at National Defense University’s Fu Hsing Kang College in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投).
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Tsai said the government has been renovating military dormitories, camps and bases to take better care of the nation’s troops.
The pay hike would be part of a proposed amendment to the central government budget bill that envisions a 4 percent pay raise for all public-sector workers.
The proposal was approved by the Cabinet on June 1 and needs to be passed by the legislature, considered a formality, as the ruling Democratic Progressive Party has a majority in the body.
Tsai also lauded her administration’s military reforms to boost the armed forces’ readiness to uphold national security.
The efforts include building domestic military jets and naval vessels, reforming the structure of the military and including female veterans in volunteer reservist training programs for the first time.
These aim to bolster the military’s combat preparedness and resilience, she said.
Tsai’s praise of her policies came as her second four-year term as president nears an end. She is to remain in office until May next year.
About 500 students received their diplomas at the joint graduation ceremony of the Military Academy, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, National Defense University, the National Defense Medical Center and the Air Force Institute of Technology.
Among the students were 12 cadets from four of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — Belize, Paraguay, the Kingdom of Eswatini and Guatemala.
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