The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday defended Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) social housing proposal in the face of criticism from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus, saying that while Tsai’s housing platform might not solve all the nation’s housing problems, it is a brave first step.
“The first step to resolving Taiwan’s housing issues is to provide a stable housing option other than buying property, and then come up with a set of integral strategies to combat structural issues surrounding the purchasing of homes,” DPP Policy Committee deputy executive director Shih Keh-he (施克和) said.
The KMT criticized the DPP presidential candidate’s proposal made on Sunday to create 200,000 social housing units that would only be available for rent to those who are unable to afford to buy their own homes. The KMT caucus called the plan an empty objective that could never be realized.
However, Shih said the key to Tsai’s proposals are determination and vision.
“To solve the housing problem Tsai and her think tank are preparing three sets of policy proposals on housing, housing market management and market sector policies so that the right to housing, a healthy housing market and development of the market could all be taken into consideration,” Shih said.
The KMT’s mistaken focus on the real estate market rather than housing solutions has led to skyrocketing prices that leave the economically disadvantaged and young people suffering, he said.
“It is really unbelievable that, instead of thinking what they have done wrong, the KMT is now criticizing solutions proposed by the opposition and other housing policy experts,” Shih said.
“Many countries, including South Korea, are working to raise the number of housing units,” he said. “In Seoul alone, there has been an addition of 100,000 social housing units within just the past three years.”
The KMT only wants to throw the housing problem back onto the real-estate market, which is actually part of the problem, Shih said.
“Tsai’s policy proposal may not solve all the problems immediately, but it is at least the first brave step toward solving the problems,” he said.
In response to media queries for a comment, KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said the Executive Yuan already has a scheme similar to the one Tsai proposed.
“Such a policy is good in essence, but it requires thorough communication with the public. In addition, we are not in an auction and you cannot just go around and yell ‘200,000’ [housing units] just to outbid others. That is not how policies are drawn up,” Hung said.
The Executive Yuan’s is planning to build 34,000 social housing units within a decade.
Additional reporting by Stacy Hsu
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS