The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said that overseas compatriot students and foreign students are the “collateral damage” of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) policy of including Chinese students in the National Health Insurance (NHI) system, as they will have to payer higher contributions.
The president announced the proposals in late October, which would see Chinese students covered by the NHI scheme, but paying full premiums. The bill also removes 40 percent government subsidies on NHI premiums that are currently enjoyed by overseas compatriot students and foreign students.
The legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee discussed the amendment at a meeting yesterday.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
KMT caucus secretary-general Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said the decision would mean that overseas compatriot and foreign students would have to pay at least NT$500 more per month for NHI coverage.
Under current rules, foreign students pay about NT$750 per month, while overseas compatriot students pay less, as they enjoy subsidies from the Overseas Community Affairs Council, Chiang said.
KMT Legislators Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) and Alicia Wang (王育敏) said that as a lot of overseas compatriot students and foreign students come from Southeast Asia, the new policy would be a slap in the face to the government’s “new southbound policy.”
Invited by the KMT to share his view, Huang Chen-feng (黃振峰), a foreign student from Malaysia studying at Soochow University, said he might stop studying in Taiwan if he is required to pay NT$6,000 more per year.
“I would hope that public hearings could be held before a final decision is made. I’m worried that this proposal would be railroaded through just like the labor law amendments were,” he said.
Chinese student Huang Luo yu (黃洛羽) said that as most Chinese students pay NT$500 per month for private insurance, he did not “see why we have to join the NHI if it is much more expensive.”
“Chinese students cannot even take part-time jobs here,” she said, adding that Taiwan has always been known as a place of friendliness and respect to human rights and she would hate to see that image fade among Chinese students.
Lin Nan (林楠), another Chinese student invited by the KMT caucus to the press conference, said he wondered why “Tsai Ing-wen displeases a group of people whenever she undertakes a reform.”
“It is OK if we do not benefit from subsidies, but a lower premium rate, befitting policyholders our age [who are less likely to use medical resources], would be better,” he said.
“No one has helped us understand the difference between the NHI and private insurance. The Mainland Affairs Council has not much to do right now, so it could tour schools to discuss the issue,” Lin said.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
About nine Taiwanese are “disappeared,” detained, or otherwise deprived of freedom of movement in China each month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Between Jan. 1 last year and Aug. 31 this year, 188 Taiwanese travelers went missing, were detained and interrogated, or had their personal freedom restricted, with some questioned in airports or hotel lobbies, the council said. In a statement ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the council urged people visiting China for any reason to be highly vigilant and aware of the risks. Of the reported cases, 50 people were “disappeared” after entering China, 19 were detained and 119 had
RSS