A 40-year-old man in Taichung recently sat in his home spitting blood for two days. Because he was unemployed and had neither money nor health insurance, he was afraid to go to the hospital. When he felt a bit better, he went to see a friend and borrowed NT$10,000. On his way to the hospital, however, he fainted and the money was stolen. A passer-by called an ambulance to take him to the Pingtung branch of the Chengching Hospital. But by the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital, the man had died. Doctors guessed that he died from excessive gastric bleeding.
Apart from being shocking and tragic, this piece of news is important because it highlights the problems of unemployment, poverty (sometimes called the rich-poor gap), the health insurance system and the deterioration of law and order currently facing Taiwan.
Unemployment in Taiwan has risen from 2.99 percent in 2000 to 4.57 percent last year, and then again to 5.17 percent earlier this year. The recently published November figures for broadly defined unemployment set a new record of 7.46 percent, or 765,000, unemployed. The number of affected family members has exceeded 1,150,000, or 5 percent of Taiwan's population.
The composition of the unemployed population is slowly changing from workers in traditional, labor-intensive industries (the manufacturing industry) to young, well-educated workers in technology-intensive industries (the service industry). Unemployment has become a nightmare that no one can ignore. This is reflected in the results of a recently published survey: almost 70 percent of workers are afraid of losing their jobs, 65 percent are beginning to develop poverty awareness, 63 percent feel that salaries have tended to fall in recent years and more than half want to work abroad.
Unemployment has created poverty and a growing income gap. According to the most recent survey on national wealth published by the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics this year, households in the Taiwan area have for the first time ever seen a decline in net assets this year. In other words, average monthly household income in Taiwan has fallen from NT$91,000 in 2000 to NT$89,000 last year. The greatest decline occurred among the poorest 20 percent of households, where incomes fell by 10.7 percent. Meanwhile, the income of the richest 20 percent of households increased by 2.1 percent last year. The annual income of the richest 20 percent is now 6.39 times greater than that of the poorest 20 percent, which is a new record. Some jobless people have chosen to end their and their families lives in collective suicides because they are unable to bear an extended period of economic pressure. Wives or sisters have been forced into prostitution to be able to feed their families. The unemployment problem is causing Taiwan to develop towards a situation where the rich get richer and the poor poorer. Unemployment hasn't merely created economic problems; it has planted the seeds of social unrest.
As for the national health insurance system, unemployed persons are now being placed in the "sixth beneficiary category," where the government will shoulder 40 percent of insurance payments. This means that the beneficiary must still shoulder 60 percent of the cost. This is no small expense for long-term unemployed.
The Bureau of National Health Insurance (NHI) has a relief fund from which it can provide interest-free loans to those unable to pay insurance costs. Besides, the Medical Treatment Law (醫療法) stipulates that hospitals and medical institutions must take all necessary steps, without delay, to help patients in acute need of treatment. If the patient is unable to pay the treatment cost, the government is legally bound to pay the hospital for the treatment. In theory, it should therefore be possible to avoid such tragedies. Unfortunately, however, while the law has been passed, it is not being enforced.
As far as social stability is concerned, the most recent data published by the National Police Administration shows that the period from January to September this year saw 19,766 more criminal cases than the same period last year, an increase of 5.48 percent. Among these cases, those involving blackmail and extortion increased the most, more than 200 percent. According to Abraham Maslow's "hierarchy of needs" model, it is impossible to consider safety needs when people can no longer satisfy their physiological needs. This means that a worsening economic situation will bring a deterioration in social stability. Robbery, theft, fraud and other criminal behavior will increase.
Taiwan has already been a WTO-member for one year. The future will bring increased global competition and pressures for transforming and upgrading industry. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has proposed a 10-point program for improving the economy and requested that the Cabinet cut the unemployment rate to below 4.5 percent within a year, that annual domestic investment remain at NT$1.2 trillion for each of the next five years, that a major trade show be arranged during the first half of next year to attract international business and capital, and that NT$70 billion be invested in public services and infrastructure construction in the hope of creating 115,000 job opportunities. Foreign investors and private business investors are likely to remain conservative, cautious about short-term measures that are not part of solid, long-term strategies.
Wang Yun-tung is an assistant professor in the Social Work Department at National Taiwan University.
sTranslated by Perry Svensson
The Chinese government on March 29 sent shock waves through the Tibetan Buddhist community by announcing the untimely death of one of its most revered spiritual figures, Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche. His sudden passing in Vietnam raised widespread suspicion and concern among his followers, who demanded an investigation. International human rights organization Human Rights Watch joined their call and urged a thorough investigation into his death, highlighting the potential involvement of the Chinese government. At just 56 years old, Rinpoche was influential not only as a spiritual leader, but also for his steadfast efforts to preserve and promote Tibetan identity and cultural
Former minister of culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) has long wielded influence through the power of words. Her articles once served as a moral compass for a society in transition. However, as her April 1 guest article in the New York Times, “The Clock Is Ticking for Taiwan,” makes all too clear, even celebrated prose can mislead when romanticism clouds political judgement. Lung crafts a narrative that is less an analysis of Taiwan’s geopolitical reality than an exercise in wistful nostalgia. As political scientists and international relations academics, we believe it is crucial to correct the misconceptions embedded in her article,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
RSS