Due to losses accrued by state-owned companies, lawmakers have capped their employees’ annual bonuses at 1.2 times their monthly salaries, instead of the 2.6 to 4.6 times proposed by the Cabinet.
It has been a bad year for many sectors of the economy, but is it right to expect these employees to suffer because of changes in government policy that are beyond their control?
Why has the state-run petroleum company CPC Corp, Taiwan, or electricity provider Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) been unable to make a profit? Taipower, for example, is the sole player in the field, so how could its turnover be so low? People want an explanation.
Transparency is the key. If it existed for these state-run companies’ budgets, operating costs and financial statements, outside observers could perhaps understand why such losses have occurred.
CPC, for example, posted its 2011 budget and financial statement online, revealing that the cost of goods sold was over budget by NT$168.3 billion (US$5.79 billion), non-operating expenses reached almost NT$3.5 billion and exchange losses were just under NT$2.5 billion. The public will only know if government policy is at fault if CPC clarifies what happened.
While government department financial statements are already available online, the devil is in the details: The most important thing is how and where budgets are actually spent.
Government budgets are often used to pay contractors who secure work though public tender. Although legislation — specifically the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法) — has been in place for more than 10 years to prevent corruption, recent scandals involving former National Fire Agency director-general Huang Chi-min (黃季敏) and the National Youth Commission show that legislation alone is not enough.
The most important thing is complete transparency for the entire process: from preliminary budgeting to the version passed by the legislature and how the budget is actually implemented. Information for the entire process should be publicly available.
What the state lacks more than anything else at present is transparency in how the government’s annual budget is used. Even if everything is above board and every last dollar is being well spent, transparency would enable people to see this.
After the devastation caused in the US by Hurricane Katrina, Alaska selfishly asked for US$233 million to build a bridge connecting a town with a population of 8,000 to Gravina Island, with its airport and smattering of 50 residents. The bridge was never built; instead, it became something of a national joke and a testament to the irresponsible way in which federal government budgets are sometimes allocated. The proposed bridge became known as “the bridge to nowhere.”
Since the government has limited funds, it is important that taxpayers’ money is spent only where it is truly needed. Any proposals must first get through the initial legislative review. After this it is crucial that there continues to be adequate monitoring and transparency as to how the money allocated is being used.
Had people been able to see online how academics were using their research grants, the recent scandal over professors using false receipts to claim reimbursements would never have happened.
Government departments spend vast amounts every year on contractors. If we introduced adequate transparency it would be easier to clamp down on corruption and ensure that money is being spent where it is really needed. Then we could prevent any future “bridges to nowhere” being built.
Chang Ruay-shiung is president of the Taiwan Hospitality and Tourism College.
Translated by Paul Cooper
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under