Lien promises more cash

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday promised more money for families to educate their children and subsidies for the poor in a bid to improve the economy's long-term health.

"To solve the country's poverty gap, I will order the KMT-People First Party (PFP) alliance to immediately and substantially push for amendments to the Income Tax Law (所得稅法) and the Social Service and Rescue Law (社會救助法) at the Legislative Yuan," Lien, the alliance's presidential candidate, told a crowd gathered at the alliance's campaign rally last night in Sanchung, Taipei County.

Families now get an income tax exemption of NT$25,000 for education, regardless of the number of college-aged children in the family.

Saying that college tuition costs up to NT$100,000, Lien pledged that, if elected, he would raise the annual educational tax exemption to NT$50,000 per person.

"In other words, if one family has two college kids, the family would get an educational tax exemption of NT$100,000," Lien said.

Lien said he also plans to relax the Social Service and Rescue Law to raise subsidies for the poor.

"By doing this we can give the involuntarily unemployed the substantial help they need from society," he said.

Lien also called for a referendum on merging Taipei City and Taipei County, envisioning in the long-term a district comprising Taipei City, Taipei County and neighboring cities and counties such as Hsinchu and Taoyuan.

The KMT chairman attacked President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for undermining the nation's investment environment by creating tensions with China, the No. 1 fear of foreign investors.

"As long as President Chen Shui-bian exists, cross-strait risk will always exist," he said.

"In view of such high national risk, our children will have no future. All our wealth and property in Taiwan are threatened by uncertainty. Because of Chen Shui-bian's unpredictable personality, our future will be unpredictable as well," Lien said.

He slammed Chen's campaign slogan of "Believing Taiwan, insisting on reform (相信台灣,堅持改革)," saying the slogan should be: "Believing Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan will be screwed (相信陳水扁,台灣完蛋)."

"If Taiwan wants to salvage peace and the economy, Chen, the stone in the way, should be removed," he said, urging the crowd to remove the "stone" with their votes next March.

But Lien also had a message for Beijing, saying that China's refusal to renounce the use of force against Taiwan would only increase animosity toward China.

A war across the Taiwan Strait would result in the "destruction of good and bad alike," he said. He urged Beijing to unilaterally announce that it will not strike first.