Legislators across party lines yesterday urged the government to take action against rising commodity prices as hikes in fuel and food costs eat into incomes and to step up efforts to boost the job market.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) said the starting salary of NT$22,000 (US$740) to NT$25,000 per month for new college graduates was not enough to meet higher living costs.
He suggested that the government review Taiwan’s temporary contract job system, which tends to keep pay levels and benefits low, and consider increasing unemployment benefits and employment subsidies.
People First Party Legislator Thomas Lee (李桐豪) said that a pay raise of 3 percent for average workers in January last year was not enough to offset the rising cost of living. The problem was particularly daunting for individuals in the 15 to 24 age bracket, which faces an unemployment rate of 12.7 percent, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Pi-han (陳碧涵) said the government should put more emphasis on helping younger workers, with 41.7 percent of the nation’s jobless population in the 20 to 29 age bracket. She said authorities should look into the compatibility of university-level courses and market demand.
KMT Legislator Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) highlighted the nation’s increasing brain drain as other countries offer favorable terms to recruit skilled professionals. Singapore, for example, has friendly immigration policies while China uses high fees for research and accommodation subsidies, she said.
The lawmakers’ remarks came a day after state-run oil CPC Corp, Taiwan announced that the price for liquefied petroleum gas sold in cylinders would rise NT$2 per kilogram and that for liquefied natural gas piped to users would go up NT$0.5 per cubic meter, effective yesterday.
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
BOOST TO SPORTS? The Executive Yuan said that the amendment was introduced to attract professionals to Taiwan, and increase the incentives for naturalization The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed on third reading an amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) that would reduce the minimum residency period required for highly skilled professionals to apply for naturalization from three to two continuous years, with a minimum of 183 days in Taiwan each year. The 183-day requirement does not apply if an eligible applicant has lived legally in the territory of the Republic of China for more than five continuous years. Taiwan’s professional basketball leagues are expected to benefit from the amendments, which would allow them to recruit more players from overseas. Prior to the passage of the amendment, the
REPORT: Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining loitering munitions matching the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 or the Anduril Altius-600, ‘Foreign Policy’ said Taiwan is seeking US-made kamikaze drones in an apparent concession to pressure from Washington to focus on asymmetric capabilities to defeat or deter a Chinese attack, Foreign Policy said in a report on Wednesday. Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities, it said, citing four sources familiar with the matter commenting on condition of anonymity. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed for attacking ground troops, while its larger sibling, the Switchblade 600, could be used to destroy tanks and entrenched troops. Ukraine has utilized both systems extensively in its fight against