China’s 31 incentives to attract Taiwanese businesses and professionals would only have a limited effect on Taiwan, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) said yesterday, adding that the government will introduce better incentives to retain talented people.
The 31 incentives, announced by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Feb. 28, include tax cuts, investment capital and relaxed restrictions on certification for 134 professions, which sparked concerns at home over Taiwan losing its competitiveness.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) was originally planning to hold a cross-agency meeting yesterday to discuss the government’s response strategies, but the Executive Yuan on Sunday night canceled the meeting, saying more time is needed to collect information.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
Chen yesterday attended a question-and-answer session at the legislature’s Economics Committee to report on the council’s policies.
The Executive Yuan has convened an ad hoc committee, presided by Vice Premier Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉), to collect response strategies from government agencies, Chen said.
The strategies have not been revealed because they have not been completed yet, she told the media before the session.
Many of the incentives offered by China are old policies and their effects on Taiwan would not be severe, she said.
Lai has proposed plans to remove investment barriers on local businesses, retain talented people and recruit foreign professionals since taking office last year, and many of the plans — although not specifically targeting the Chinese incentives — would be gradually carried out this year, she said.
It is inevitable that talented people would be courted by businesses, Chen said.
As far as Taiwan is concerned, the key is improving its leverage and boosting its self-confidence, she added.
“When we improve Taiwan’s investment environment, talented people would want to stay here and more investments would follow,” Chen said.
Although Chinese firms offer extraordinary salaries to attract talent from around the world, Taiwan can retain domestic professionals by raising their salaries, and introducing better incentives and work opportunities, she said.
In another legislative session yesterday, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that about 200 medical professionals are working in China, which has been long offering high salaries to attract them.
Talented people are competing in a global environment, while how to improve the salaries and working conditions of healthcare workers and show them due respect are key issues for the ministry, Chen Shih-chung said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS