On Wednesday last week, US President Donald Trump swung the tariff sword and left the whole world crying out in pain. On Friday the Executive Yuan announced that it would allocate NT$88 billion (US$2.7 billion) to assist industrial and agricultural sectors impacted by the tariffs.
However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is making increasingly costly and exorbitant demands, suggesting that last year’s NT$528.3 billion tax revenue surplus be put to use.
It was not that long ago that the KMT was arguing for something else entirely. KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) had called for a universal cash payment of NT$10,000 to every taxpayer, while KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) in February said that the universal cash subsidy proposal would definitely be addressed during the current legislative session — even if it meant calling an extraordinary session or extending the current one.
However, distributing NT$10,000 to every taxpayer would be an immediate expense of NT$230 billion — nearly half of the total surplus.
If the government did this, what surplus funds would it have left to cope with Trump’s tariff storm? In hindsight, it is fortunate that the government pushed back on the KMT’s proposal.
This situation makes it clear that the KMT has no clue how to run a country — it only knows how to react.
The tariff shock has only just begun, and the KMT should share in these difficult times rather than proposing such horrible ideas.
Huang Wei-ping works in public service and has a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the US.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
The cancelation this week of President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visit to Eswatini, after the Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius revoked overflight permits under Chinese pressure, is one more measure of Taiwan’s shrinking executive diplomatic space. Another channel that deserves attention keeps growing while the first contracts. For several years now, Taipei has been one of Europe’s busiest legislative destinations. Where presidents and foreign ministers cannot land, parliamentarians do — and they do it in rising numbers. The Italian parliament opened the year with its largest bipartisan delegation to Taiwan to date: six Italian deputies and one senator, drawn from six
Recently, Taipei’s streets have been plagued by the bizarre sight of rats running rampant and the city government’s countermeasures have devolved into an anti-intellectual farce. The Taipei Parks and Street Lights Office has attempted to eradicate rats by filling their burrows with polyurethane foam, seeming to believe that rats could not simply dig another path out. Meanwhile, as the nation’s capital slowly deteriorates into a rat hive, the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection has proudly pointed to the increase in the number of poisoned rats reported in February and March as a sign of success. When confronted with public concerns over young
Taiwan and India are important partners, yet this reality is increasingly being overshadowed in current debates. At a time when Taiwan-India relations are at a crossroads, with clear potential for deeper engagement and cooperation, the labor agreement signed in February 2024 has become a source of friction. The proposal to bring in 1,000 migrant workers from India is already facing significant resistance, with a petition calling for its “indefinite suspension” garnering more than 40,000 signatures. What should have been a straightforward and practical step forward has instead become controversial. The agreement had the potential to serve as a milestone in
China has long given assurances that it would not interfere in free access to the global commons. As one Ministry of Defense spokesperson put it in 2024, “the Chinese side always respects the freedom of navigation and overflight entitled to countries under international law.” Although these reassurances have always been disingenuous, China’s recent actions display a blatant disregard for these principles. Countries that care about civilian air safety should take note. In April, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) canceled a planned trip to Eswatini for the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s coronation and the 58th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic
RSS