The government is in the red and national liability has ballooned by NT$1.5 trillion (US$50 billion) compared with last year, placing Taiwan on the stage as a potential player in what may be Asia’s Greek tragedy, Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Yeh Chin-ling (葉津玲) said yesterday.
The government’s income next year is estimated to be NT$1.79 billion, but its expenditure stands at NT$1.95 billion, placing the nation NT$160 billion in debt, Yeh said, adding that the government was falling NT$200 billion more into debt every year.
The government has overestimated its tax income, and while the growth rate of the debt has slowed, the account liability has swelled tremendously, Yeh said.
Yeh also said that liability and debt growth were continuing to surge, adding that by June, liability accrued by all levels of government reached NT$17 trillion — surpassing the nation’s annual income.
The factor contributing the most to liability growth in the past year was labor insurance, which amounted to NT$1.3 trillion, NT$948 billion more than its estimated annual growth of NT$394 billion, Yeh said.
Unless the Bureau of Labor Insurance made a gross error in its calculations, the discrepancy is a conscious action designed to scare workers with the idea that “the Labor Insurance Fund would go broke,” Yeh said.
“If President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration does not tackle the annuity funding issue, the nation stands to become the next Greece and default on its debts,” she added.
Yeh said that regardless of the figures’ accuracy, the nation has a tremendous amount of liability and is seeing shortages among all four government funds — the Labor Insurance Fund, the labor pension, the civil service pension and the planned annuity fund.
The funds are the main source of pensions for retirees.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS