Taiwan Legislator Urges Implementation of 30,000 NT Dollar Volunteer Soldier Allowance Amidst New Combat Pay

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te announced on June 10 that, effective July 1, soldiers will receive an additional 4,000 NT dollars monthly. This increase comes with the introduction of a third category of combat troop allowance, supplementing existing allowances for first and second types of combat units.

However, Kuomintang legislator Hsu Chih-chieh expressed support for improving military compensation but raised concerns about the new allowance structure. She pointed out that a significant number of volunteer soldiers still do not receive any combat pay, creating an inequitable situation where conscripts might receive combat allowances while some volunteers do not. Hsu urged President Lai and Premier Cho Jung-tai to enact the "Military Servicepersons Pay Act," which mandates that volunteer soldiers' allowances be raised to 30,000 NT dollars.

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Raising military pay, regardless of the method, I support it. But after adding the third category of combat allowance, there are still a large number of volunteer soldiers who do not receive any combat allowance at all, creating an unfair phenomenon where 'conscripts can get it, but some volunteer soldiers cannot.'

Hsu elaborated that the original proposal to increase volunteer soldiers' allowances was intended as a more uniform method of compensation beyond base pay. She questioned the necessity of introducing a third, and potentially fourth, combat allowance category, suggesting that the focus should instead be on a consolidated salary structure. She highlighted that many soldiers are not seeing any benefit from the new combat allowances, questioning the state's valuation of their contributions. Furthermore, she noted that volunteer soldiers in the third combat category receive the same allowance as conscripts, while other volunteer soldiers receive nothing.

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Are their contributions to the country not important? Moreover, volunteer soldiers in the third category of combat troops have the same allowance as conscripts; on the other hand, there is still a group of volunteer soldiers who have no combat allowance.

The legislator stressed that the Legislative Yuan had already passed the "Military Servicepersons Pay Act," stipulating the increase of volunteer soldiers' allowances to 30,000 NT dollars. She argued that the government should adhere to the law, as the Executive Yuan did not propose a review, did not refuse to sign it into law, and no constitutional interpretation has deemed it unconstitutional. Hsu criticized the government for potentially disregarding a law passed by the legislature, especially when compared to the handling of public servant pension adjustments, where a partial payment was made pending a constitutional interpretation. She warned that if the Executive Yuan can ignore laws passed by the legislature and infringe upon soldiers' rights, it risks becoming an "autocratic behemoth."

Hsu reiterated the Kuomintang's commitment to improving military pay, supporting both the "Military Servicepersons Pay Act" and the combat troop allowances. She called on President Lai and Premier Cho to administer the law and implement the mandated increase in volunteer soldiers' allowances.

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If the laws passed by the Legislative Yuan can be completely ignored by the Executive Yuan, and even deprive soldiers of their rights through various means, then the Executive Yuan will become an autocratic behemoth.