Taiwan's government has again raised pay for military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers — good news for rank-and-file troops and government employees, and a further sign that defence spending continues to expand.

• Lai Ching-te announced a new "third-category combat unit allowance," under which units at brigade level and below responsible for sustaining combat operations will receive an additional NT$4,000 per month, backdated to take effect from 1 July.

• Conscripted personnel serving in combat units will also begin receiving the combat unit allowance on the same basis as volunteer personnel.

• Military personnel, civil servants and teachers received increases of NT$2,000 each in their professional allowance and supervisory allowance from July this year, and will receive a further across-the-board pay raise of 4% in January next year.

• This is the fifth pay adjustment for military personnel, civil servants and teachers counting Tsai Ing-wen's time in office together with the period since Lai Ching-te took office.

• The pay raise was announced immediately after the conclusion of the Han Kuang No. 42 live-troop exercise, with the aim of retaining personnel and strengthening combat readiness.

Outlook: Taiwan's defence personnel spending will continue to climb, and further increases targeting units with specialised expertise are possible in the future.