With the government having spent more than NT$42 billion (US$1.4 billion) in the past 14 years on post-disaster reconstruction, Minister of the Interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) on Wednesday urged the government to purchase insurance to help ease the financial burden of disaster relief.
“Since 1999, the government has spent NT$42 billion in special budgets to deal with reconstruction after the country gets hit by earthquakes and typhoons. However, many Western countries — as well as Japan and South Korea — are purchasing catastrophy insurance, so that insurance companies can partially or completely cover the costs for disaster relief,” Lee told a press conference after returning from Europe last week. “I think buying catastrophy insurance is a good idea, especially for a country like ours that is often hit by earthquakes or typhoons.”
“In the past 30 years, 53 percent of natural disasters worldwide have occurred in Asia, and 12.5 percent occurred in North America,” Lee said. “However, 66 percent of catastrophy insurance payouts have been made to North American countries, while only 9 percent have been paid to Asian countries — which are actually only Japan and South Korea.”
South Korea has purchased insurance to cover damage to its transportation infrastructure, under which the insurance company would help to cover damages caused by natural disasters under NT$50 billion, while the government would pay for disaster relief costs over that amount, he said.
“The government could save a lot of money if we also have such insurance,” Lee said.
He said he has spoken with the Ministry of Financial Affairs and Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國), who support the idea.
“This would be a Cabinet decision, and I will try to convince other ministries, especially the Ministry of Transportation and Communications,” Lee said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS