Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) promised to set up an exclusive fund for social housing and increase social housing to 10 percent of the nation’s total housing stock if elected president in January.
Speaking at a meeting with social housing activists yesterday, Tsai, the DPP’s presidential candidate, said the government should provide more social housing for the disadvantaged rather than allowing market forces to determine housing supply and prices.
“We will use multiple channels to provide more social housing, including building new housing, promoting urban renewal projects and decreasing the number of idle housing units,” Tsai said.
Tsai said house prices are too high for members of the general public, let alone those who are economically disadvantaged. Taipei’s house price to income ratio was between about eight and 10 to one in 2008, but the ratio had risen dramatically to 16 to one in the second quarter of this year, she said, adding that New Taipei City (新北市) faced a similar predicament.
With the income gap widening, the government should take measures on affordable housing, she said, pledging that if the DPP takes power in January, social housing would be for rent only and that the party would give priority to young, disadvantaged and disabled people.
Jeroen van der Veer, vice director of the Amsterdam Federation of Housing Associations, shared his association’s experiences at the meeting and Tsai vowed to take into consideration all the suggestions made by activists.
On Monday, activists are planning to hold Taiwan’s biggest-ever International Conference on Social Housing in Taipei to coincide with World Habitat Day.
Twelve professionals from the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and South Korea have been invited to discuss international social housing issues.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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