Activists from a range of labor and welfare groups yesterday announced the establishment of an “Annuity Pension Reform Alliance,” demanding that presidential candidates commit to reforming national annuity pension systems.
The groups’ demands included that the candidates refrain from making empty promises to increase benefits and establish a “consultation platform” that would allow open and transparent discussion with civic groups.
“If there are no changes, we will probably go from having annuity pensions to not having them, because the nation probably would not be able to stand the pressure,” Taiwan Labor Front secretary-general Son Yu-liam (孫友聯) said, calling on candidates to make a credible commitment to reform, instead of just “buying votes” with promises to increase benefits.
National retirement benefits are currently provided by five separate pension funds. While benefits to the general population are provided through the National Pension and Labor Pension funds, retired military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers each have their own separate funds. In addition, retired farmers also receive monthly allowances from the national budget.
“Political and economic conditions, population trends, national finances and the outlook for economic growth all indicate that the a nation can no longer support the pension annuity system in its present form,” National Taiwan University sociology professor Fu Tsung-hsi (傅從喜) said.
The Alliance for Fair Tax Reform convener Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) said that the pension fund for military personnel looks set to go bankrupt in 2019, with the labor and public-school teacher pension funds going bankrupt in 2027, and the civil servant fund in 2031.
He called for the review and reform of the different pension funds to be linked, with the goal of more closely integrating the funds to accommodate the inevitable cuts.
The different pension funds provide greatly disparate “guarantees” of financial security to retirees, he said. While the pensions for military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers are equal to between 80 percent to 90 percent of their salaries, benefits offered by the Labor Pension are equal to only 60 percent of workers’ salaries, he said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS