Taiwanese have found it difficult to guard their wallets after President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election, because almost everything has become more expensive, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday.
“From gasoline to LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] to natural gas, and from fertilizer to tuition and health insurance ... you name it. The prices for all these things went up after Ma was re-elected,” DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) told a press conference.
It is ironic that the Cabinet, led by Premier Sean Chen (陳冲), calls itself a “Cabinet of relief,” which is supposed to strengthen the economy and enrich the people, he said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Ma and former health minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) had pledged that the fixed premium rate of 4.91 percent would be kept unchanged at least during the first five years of the second-generation National Health Insurance program, which is scheduled to come into effect in July, Pan said.
However, there are reports that the Department of Health is planning to adopt a higher rate, which would be a betrayal of Ma’s pledge, he said.
The DPP caucus urged the government to stay true to its promise by keeping the rate unchanged and revising regulations to make premium fees proportional to incomes, he said.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said the department had pledged that the health insurance premium would not increase for at least 80 percent of the total insured population under the new system.
Healthcare spending is not the only thing people are worried about, she said, adding that the Ministry of Education is mulling an increase in college tuition next month and the Ministry of Economic Affairs is considering raising gasoline and electricity prices.
The Executive Yuan’s citing of “market mechanisms” as the reason behind the hike is a “Taipei-centric perspective,” which ignores the well-being of families with lower incomes, retired economics professor Kenneth Lin (林向愷) told a separate press conference.
The government also ignored the role of Taiwan Power Co and CPC Corp, Taiwan, both of which are state-controlled companies, Lin said.
“It would be difficult to accept the price increase with the opaque operations of these two companies,” he said.
Lin ridiculed the government theory that mild inflation would benefit Taiwan’s economy, saying that if Ma does not tackle the price increases, public anger would drag his approval ratings to a new low.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
RSS