Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
"Ma said I don't know anything about the economy," Hsieh said. "I say he has no idea about ordinary people's happiness."
Hsieh said that while Ma was happy because he had increased his personal wealth by NT$46.3 million (US$1.4 million) over the past 10 years, he had no idea how ordinary people live their lives.
PHOTO: CNA
The idea of economic prosperity that Hsieh advocates, Hsieh said, is to ease the plight of the people. If elected, he said he would make an effort to create more jobs, give unemployed people something to do and make houses more affordable.
Criticizing the high real estate prices in Taipei City, Hsieh said people with an average income would not be able to afford a place of their own because a 30-ping apartment in the capital city now costs approximately NT$15.4 million.
While Ma described the high property prices in the city a sign of "prosperity," Hsieh said that he would like to point out two things.
First, average household disposable income in Taipei City, where Ma served as mayor, increased by 14 percent from 1998 to 2006, while that in Kaohsiung City, where he served as mayor, grew by 18 percent.
During the same period, Hsieh said the population in Taipei City decreased by over 24,000, while that in Kaohsiung City increased by 35,000. Taipei City lost 14,000 people last year alone and household disposable income decreased by NT$15,000 from 2005 to 2006.
Second, 40 percent of the monthly salary of a regular income earner in Taipei City goes on mortgage payments, while the figure in Kaohsiung City was 28 percent, with 25 percent universally accepted as a reasonable amount, he said.
In other words, a married couple with a joint monthly income of NT$70,000 were estimated to pay between NT$35,000 and NT$45,000 for a 25-ping apartment in the capital city, he said.
Dismissing Ma's praise of Taipei's high property prices as "irresponsible," Hsieh said that in the nation generally there is a big gap between rich and poor, but that it is most serious in Taipei City.
"Ma interpreted it as a result of the free market economy, but how does he know anything about the plight of ordinary people when his personal account increased by more than NT$40 million over the past 10 years," Hsieh said.
Hsieh said he is not in favor of government intervention in the real estate market, but that the government is duty bound to help the young and disadvantaged find a place to live.
He proposed that the government release state-owned land for the construction of public housing to be rented to people above 25 years of age. Such a privilege would be offered on a once-in-a-lifetime basis.
To alleviate the financial burden on young tenants, he proposed the government offer a 40 percent discount on rent for the first two years and a 20 percent discount for the following two years.
He also proposed a low-interest loan program to make real estate affordable to young people. Under the program, first-time buyers would be entitled to interest-free loans.
The government would build more dormitories on campuses and make efforts to stabilize real estate prices so that young people could afford a house of their own, he said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard