President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday reiterated her administration’s commitment to pension reform, saying that she will take full responsibility for its effects, following a protest on Saturday against the government’s planned reforms.
Tsai proposed four principles for reform: an across-the-board protection of retirement benefits; a scientific assessment of pension schemes; a sustainable and practical management of pension funds; and a democratic reform process.
Tsai made the remarks at a Youth Policy Forum conference hosted by the Ministry of Education in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
All retirees should be entitled to a sustainable pension that supports basic necessities, Tsai said, adding that changes to income replacement ratios, the government funding ratio of pension funds and payment requirements need to be based on rigorous calculations.
Management of pension funds has to be sustainable and pragmatic, she said, adding that improvements are needed to raise the funds’ performance and investment returns.
The reform process has to be democratic and transparent to make way for substantial discussions, Tsai said.
“The sole purpose of building a just and sustainable pension system is to take care of future generations. We will continue on the road to reform to ease the burden on the younger generation and ensure a stable retirement income,” Tsai said.
“As the president, I will take on the stress of reforms,” she added.
A determined government would not waver in its duty to carry out reforms even if opinion polls are not satisfactory, Tsai said, adding that structural reform is a long-term process in which there are no noticeable short-term results, but confusion and unrest.
A nation would fall if its government rules according to public sentiment, while a government would collapse if it only focuses on long-term goals, Tsai said, adding that her administration will try to “keep a better balance.”
She urged a crowd of about 100 attendants, mostly college students, to address issues such as pension reform, long-term care, industry innovation and constitutional reforms.
Tsai told them to be persistent when advocating a cause, because government officials need to be constantly reminded of the importance of certain issues.
“You might as well pound the table if [government officials] do not pay attention for a third time,” she said.
“However, there is no need to protest unless it is absolutely necessary. Protest is a right of every person, but it is more important to engage in reasonable discussion following a protest,” Tsai said.
Responding to a question on how the education system can be reformed to relieve high-school students from standardized tests, Tsai said high-school curriculum needs substantial reform to eliminate unnecessary studies so students can be engaged in life, as such engagement is lacking in the nation’s education system.
A three-year college degree program might be implemented to give students more time to be involved in non-academic work, she said.
Tsai encouraged young people to become entrepreneurs instead of confining themselves as employees, because industrial transition is key to building a better working environment at a time when numerous small and medium-sized enterprises are having difficulty keeping up with the competition and committing to worker welfare.
Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said the government respects Saturday’s protest and the opinions voiced there, but added that dialogue is needed to reach a consensus about pension reform.
Lin called on young people to engage in public issues and criticize government policies to boost communication between the public and the government.
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
ELITE UNIT: President William Lai yesterday praised the National Police Agency’s Special Operations Group after watching it go through assault training and hostage rescue drills The US Navy regularly conducts global war games to develop deterrence strategies against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, aimed at making the nation “a very difficult target to take,” US Acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby said on Wednesday. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Kilby said the navy has studied the issue extensively, including routine simulations at the Naval War College. The navy is focused on five key areas: long-range strike capabilities; countering China’s command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; terminal ship defense; contested logistics; and nontraditional maritime denial tactics, Kilby
RSS