In news from and about Taiwan this morning ...

K-M-T lawmakers have passed an amendment to Article 5 of the Armed Forces Pay
Act raising volunteer soldiers' monthly allowance to 30,000 N-T.

That's an increase of over 15,000 N-T, along with other benefits.

The monthly allowance will be granted to all volunteer military personnel,
regardless of rank, effective January 1 next year.

The amended article introduces new types of designated allowances for
volunteer military personnel, with specific amounts to be determined by the
Cabinet.

And it requires all allowances to be adjusted accordingly whenever the
cumulative consumer price index reaches 3-per cent.

The amendment was passed during a second round of voting, with 52 votes in
favor and 50 against.

Eight Taiwan People's Party lawmakers were absent.

K-M-T lawmaker Wang Hung-wei says the amendment is intended to address a
shortage of recruits - as the number of volunteer military personnel declined
from over 164,000 in 2021 to more than 152,000 in 2024 - leading to a
significant shortfall in troop strength.

Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee says the amendments violated Article 70 of
the Constitution, which states that the Legislative Yuan shall not propose
increases to the expenditures in the budget submitted by the Cabinet.