Ex-lawmaker urges military service act revision
ROC Central News Agency
2011/05/11 16:40:16
By Sophia Yeh, Wen Kuei-hsiang and Lilian Wu
Taipei, May 11 (CNA) Ex-lawmaker Li Ao on Wednesday appealed for a revision to the Military Service System Act so that his son, who is studying in China, could return to Taiwan for a family get-together without being conscripted into the military.
Li, accompanied by ruling Kuomintang Legislator Chu Fong-chi, said his son, Li Kan, a freshman majoring in economics at Peking University, could not get a deferment from military service were he to set foot in Taiwan, meaning Li would have to meet his son overseas.
"Why is it that students studying in mainland China cannot get a deferment, while students studying in Japan, the United States and other countries can?" Li questioned.
All Taiwanese males have the obligation to serve in the military when they reach the age of 18. They can ask for a deferment to pursue advanced studies, but it does not currently apply to those studying in China.
Chu said Taiwan's military service system "should not be discriminatory, " and she called for a revision of the applicable clauses on deferments under the Military Service System Act.
The amendment, she said, should allow Taiwanese students studying in the mainland to receive similar treatment as those studying in other countries and enable them to return to Taiwan while enrolled in a school abroad.
In response, Interior Minister Jiang Yi-huah said a number of legislators raised the issue last year and that both the Interior Ministry and Ministry of National Defense felt that the law could be amended.
"On Li's appeal for a deferment and the direction of the Ministry of National Defense's revision plan, we basically support them, " he said.
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