The Ministry of Agriculture has estimated that agricultural losses caused by Typhoon Danas totaled NT$1.6 billion (US$54.72 million). During the last legislative session, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators jointly cut the ministry’s budget for this year’s agricultural special income fund by NT$90 million, which would inevitably impact the government’s distribution of agricultural disaster relief funds.
Additionally, disaster relief funds, which fall under the agricultural special income fund, have in recent years consistently faced budget shortfalls due to frequent natural disasters. As a result, the ministry has had to apply for permission from the Executive Yuan to access allocations from the secondary reserve fund.
However, Article 22 of the Budget Act (預算法) states: “No reserve funds shall be used for any budget items deleted or budget amount cut down by the Legislative Yuan at the review unless used for Allocations for Legal Expenses or otherwise agreed upon by the Legislative Yuan.”
Therefore, if disaster relief funds were to run empty, it would be impossible to employ the secondary reserve fund to fill in budgetary gaps, which would lead to significant delays in relief fund disbursement. This raises the question — should farmers seek compensation from KMT and TPP legislators for the losses they suffer as a result of these budget cuts?
The agriculture ministry had proposed a budget of NT$169.2 billion for this year, but the Legislative Yuan cut NT$2 billion to eliminate the budget for items such as marketing and publicity, domestic and international travel expenses, and public budgets for supplementary funds.
Article 6 of the Agricultural Natural Disaster Relief Regulations (農業天然災害救助辦法) stipulates that — within seven days following a natural disaster — local agricultural authorities may consult with the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute to assist with conducting damage assessments.
Similarly, the operational guidelines for agricultural natural disaster relief require that random inspections be conducted by small teams composed of personnel from the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute and the Agriculture and Food Agency. With the travel budgets for these departments having been cut this year, how would on-site damage assessments be carried out? Are civil servants expected to pay for their own travel expenses?
KMT and TPP legislators arbitrarily slashed the budget, directly cutting disaster relief funds that provide the subsidies farmers urgently need. As a result, it would be impossible for farmers affected by natural disasters to resume work as soon as possible to sustain their livelihoods. KMT and TPP legislators have not only failed their constituents, but also brought shame to the office of legislators.
Yeh Yu-cheng is a secretary at the Pingtung County Public Health Bureau.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
Father’s Day, as celebrated around the world, has its roots in the early 20th century US. In 1910, the state of Washington marked the world’s first official Father’s Day. Later, in 1972, then-US president Richard Nixon signed a proclamation establishing the third Sunday of June as a national holiday honoring fathers. Many countries have since followed suit, adopting the same date. In Taiwan, the celebration takes a different form — both in timing and meaning. Taiwan’s Father’s Day falls on Aug. 8, a date chosen not for historical events, but for the beauty of language. In Mandarin, “eight eight” is pronounced
Having lived through former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s tumultuous and scandal-ridden administration, the last place I had expected to come face-to-face with “Mr Brexit” was in a hotel ballroom in Taipei. Should I have been so surprised? Over the past few years, Taiwan has unfortunately become the destination of choice for washed-up Western politicians to turn up long after their political careers have ended, making grandiose speeches in exchange for extraordinarily large paychecks far exceeding the annual salary of all but the wealthiest of Taiwan’s business tycoons. Taiwan’s pursuit of bygone politicians with little to no influence in their home
In a recent essay, “How Taiwan Lost Trump,” a former adviser to US President Donald Trump, Christian Whiton, accuses Taiwan of diplomatic incompetence — claiming Taipei failed to reach out to Trump, botched trade negotiations and mishandled its defense posture. Whiton’s narrative overlooks a fundamental truth: Taiwan was never in a position to “win” Trump’s favor in the first place. The playing field was asymmetrical from the outset, dominated by a transactional US president on one side and the looming threat of Chinese coercion on the other. From the outset of his second term, which began in January, Trump reaffirmed his
Despite calls to the contrary from their respective powerful neighbors, Taiwan and Somaliland continue to expand their relationship, endowing it with important new prospects. Fitting into this bigger picture is the historic Coast Guard Cooperation Agreement signed last month. The common goal is to move the already strong bilateral relationship toward operational cooperation, with significant and tangible mutual benefits to be observed. Essentially, the new agreement commits the parties to a course of conduct that is expressed in three fundamental activities: cooperation, intelligence sharing and technology transfer. This reflects the desire — shared by both nations — to achieve strategic results within
RSS