A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration would commit to establishing a sound system for long-term care in four years and would allocate public funding of at least NT$40 billion (US$1.32 billion) in four years if elected in January, DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
In a symposium with representatives from various social care groups, Tsai said she recognized the importance of a comprehensive long-term care system that would benefit the young, the old and the disabled as the nation rapidly ages.
A 10-year plan with a budget of NT$81.7 billion to establish a long-term care system, which was proposed by the then-DPP administration in 2007, was abandoned after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008, and Ma has not paid sufficient attention to the issue, Tsai said.
That is why Taiwan has to speed up the establishment of such a system and why the central government should play an active role, Tsai said, adding that if elected, she would set up a special task force to tackle the issue.
A centralized task force reporting directly to the president would find unused public buildings to use as sites for social care facilities, collaborate with non-profit organizations and coordinate different government agencies.
The presidential hopeful agreed with the representatives, who offered their suggestions and observation on long-term care, saying: “Human resources and money are always the most important issues when it comes to the social care system.”
Other than the NT$40 billion budget she proposed, the government should train more local caretakers, rather than hiring more foreign caretakers, so that more job opportunities could be created, Tsai said.
Most of the representatives who spoke at the 60-minute symposium were not happy with the current administration, with Foundation for the Welfare of the Elderly secretary-general Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴) saying the Executive Yuan had offered “more interference than assistance.”
For example, Wu said, the Cabinet refused to include funding for nonprofits in its annual budgets and only agreed to fund them through the second reserve fund — a special budget.
Tsai also pledged to review next year’s national budget if she won the presidential election on Jan. 14 and to make necessary adjustments, because “the DPP’s priorities in governance are different from those of the KMT [Chinese Nationalist Party].”
“At the end of the day, the government’s determination is crucial. We have to get this done, and we will get it done,” Tsai said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS