On June 23, the National Committee on Pension Reform convened for the first time. Addressing the committee, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) revealed four principles of the government’s reform program.
First, the pension system must be designed so that it is financially stable while taking into account the ability to pay into the system.
Second, using reasonable contribution levels, the system must look after the economic needs of disadvantaged groups.
Third, it must reduce discrepancies between the pension systems for different professions and occupations to build a more cohesive society.
Fourth, the reform process must be transparent and democratic.
Tsai said that the goal of these principles is to ensure that the reform process would construct a stable and sustainable pension system that would become part of the social safety net and help create a more unified society.
Following Tsai’s speech, the committee convened for the first time. Unfortunately, boisterous questioning by some committee members turned the meeting into a shouting match, resulting in three members leaving the meeting.
If committee members are unable to reach a consensus, how can they move on to the second stage of the process — the national conference on pension reform — let alone draft legislation? Will Tsai’s administration really be able to complete the reform process within one year?
Compared with Japan, the US and some European nations, pension reform in Taiwan is already two decades late. Although former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration reformed part of the system — the 18 percent preferential savings interest rate and income replacement ratio given to military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers — and former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) abolished government employees’ year-end compensatory payouts, neither government was able to face up to the challenge of a perfect storm of fast-depleting pension funds combined with a rapidly aging population.
Taiwan’s four largest pension funds are facing the threat of bankruptcy. If the pace of reform is not accelerated, the time might come when pensioners stop receiving payments. Unless the debt problem is transferred to the next generation, society could be thrown into turmoil, which would hand Taiwan’s enemies an opportunity to interfere. Hopefully, legislators can put the needs of the country and the public first, and for the sake of future generations, strain every sinew to complete pension reform.
Tsai has said that government employees are not targets, but partners and participants in the reform process. It is understandable that government employee representatives are eager to gain public support and make their opinions heard. Government employee representatives would hopefully propose an alternative version of the reform program that addresses the areas they believe are illogical or confusing.
The starting pistol has been fired on pension reform with the establishment of the committee. It is crucial that momentum is maintained, as reform moves from committee stage to legislative scrutiny and finally enactment into law. It is essential that the job is completed within one year.
If that fails, the resignation of the deputy convener and executive director of the committee, Lin Wan-i (林萬億), would be a trifling matter compared with the failure to implement the government’s long-term strategy.
Taiwanese must come together to overcome this hurdle and exercise restraint for the good of the nation: Failure is not an option.
Li Chuan-hsin is vice president of the Northern Taiwan Society.
Translated by Edward Jones
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
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
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