US President George W. Bush has signed into law a massive bailout package for US financial institutions. The bill had initally been rejected by the House of Representatives amid concerns that spending US$700 billion of taxpayers’ money to buy up questionable assets and bail out financial companies was not socially just. However, after measures were added to protect the interests of the middle classes, such as tax cuts and exemptions, among other additions, the bill was approved by both houses of Congress.
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has also been confronting a financial crisis. How does its attitude compare to that of US officials? Ma’s government has proposed a series of measures to boost the economy and stock markets. On Sept. 9 it put forward 10 proposals to revitalize the economy, but the package fell short on policies beneficial to the public at large. The government does not seem to care much about the middle class. No wonder people are growing more concerned about social injustice and less confident in the government.
The Finance Ministry’s Tax Reform Committee is scheduled to meet today amid widespread calls from industrial and commercial interests for tax cuts to help the economy. The financial team set up by the Presidential Office has not come up with any measures to revive the stock market. It has only suggested cutting inheritance and gift taxes and setting up a sovereign wealth fund, and it seems likely that the Tax Reform Committee will act in accordance with these signals. These are tax cuts for the rich, however, and only serve to shift even more of the tax burden onto the shoulders of the less affluent.
Taxation in Taiwan is not well balanced. Most government revenue comes from income taxes. Many high earning companies and individuals pay very little tax because there are so many deductions and exemptions. Sometimes the extremely wealthy manage to pay less tax than the average office worker. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) has repeatedly called on wealthy Taiwanese to bear a fairer share of the tax burden. The finance ministry is aware of the situation, but unfortunately has been insensitive to it, so government policy continues to favor the wealthy.
The government knows that the deteriorating economic situation is causing ever greater income disparity and the Ministry of the Interior has proposed a plan to subsidize families whose monthly household income falls below NT$25,000. But recipients would be chosen by computer, which means they might include teachers and military personnel, who are already exempt from taxes, while those in real need are left out. This does not meet demands for social justice, but all Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) can say is, “better luck next time.”
Even in the US, which always has stressed the importance of free markets and a free economy, lawmakers managed to squeeze measures to benefit the disadvantaged and the middle classes into its bailout plan. It makes you wonder whether Taiwan’s government — which stressed liberalization and deregulation when it took office — cares about growing income disparity nationwide and whether it has heard the complaints of the disadvantaged and the middle classes who lack the political strength to challenge the government’s financial and economic policies.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that people must be tolerant of other views, that the president should not act as a dictator and that the judiciary should not get involved in politics. He then went on to say that others with different opinions should not be criticized as “XX fellow travelers,” in reference to
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