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.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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