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MND continues to moot trimming, streamlining of armed forces

ROC Central News Agency

2009/05/07 18:26:04

By Deborah Kuo

Taipei, May 7 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) is continuing to discuss ways to trim and streamline the armed forces in line with the administration's policy of making Taiwan's military leaner and meaner, MND Vice Minister Chang Liang-jen said Thursday.

Speaking at a question and answer session at the Legislative Yuan, Chang said the ministry since last year has been making preparations to downsize and restructure the armed forces, but a plan has yet to be finalized.

"The trimming of high-ranking officers must be taken after the entire military system is restructured, " Chang told lawmakers.

He was responding to remarks made by President Ma Ying-jeou the day before that there are too many officers in Taiwan's military and that previous downsizing measures only reduced the number of soldiers, not officers.

Ma made the remarks at a dinner held at the Presidential Office Wednesday evening after ruling Kuomintang Legislator Ting Shou-chung complained that there are too many generals in the military and that having 15 retired generals serving as strategic consultants to the Presidential Office is certainly far too many.

Ting pointed out that the consultants have been paid salaries equal to those for generals on active duty, urging the government to scrap the military consultants system once and for all.

Ting also raised the issue regarding the salary for the chief of the general staff, saying it is far too high, "higher than that for a vice premier." He suggested that the status of the chief of the general staff should be lowered from the current four-star general level to a three-star level.

President Ma agreed with Ting, saying that the next steps that the administration should take are to revise the National Defense Law and the Organization Law of the defense ministry to facilitate the downsizing of high-ranking military officials.