Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has floated the idea of the party proposing a universal cash payment next year of NT$20,000 to NT$30,000 (US$632 to US$948), greater than the planned NT$10,000 proposed by the government.
What seems like simply advocating for extra cash for the public is turning the cash handouts debate into a bidding war.
The question is not whether cash handouts are popular, but what the KMT is thinking when it comes to national finances. After all, these are the same politicians who have repeatedly accused the government of padding budgets, wasting public funds and leaving debt for future generations. They touted their roughly NT$48 billion in cuts to the central government’s overall budget as a major achievement in protecting taxpayers’ wallets. Yet they now turn around and push for even higher universal cash payments, costing hundreds of billions of New Taiwan dollars.
If bigger payouts are the answer, why not gun for NT$100,000?
Based on a rough population estimate of 23 million, a universal payment of NT$20,000 amounts to NT$460 billion, while NT$30,000 would come close to NT$690 billion. So, just as the KMT congratulates itself on cutting NT$48 billion from the budget, it is proposing a policy 10 to 14 times larger.
Was all the talk about “government waste” really about fiscal oversight, or was it simply about cutting the ruling party’s budget? If the country is so strapped for cash that wholesale cuts are necessary, where is the money for hundreds of billions in universal cash payments coming from? Conversely, if the government can actually find NT$690 billion, why all the fanfare over NT$48 billion in budget cuts and accusations of reckless government spending?
Fiscal discipline cannot exist only when someone else’s budget is being cut, then conveniently disappear when it comes time to make political promises.
The political objective here might be to create the impression that it was the KMT that fought to get money to the people.
However, each dollar that the government distributes comes not from the KMT’s coffers, and certainly not from Fu’s own pocket, but from national public finances.
The Legislative Yuan has the power to scrutinize budgets and oversee the government, but politicians cannot demand that the executive branch take fiscal responsibility while simultaneously calling for enormous new expenditures, packaging the resulting political benefits as KMT-won dividends.
Handouts of NT$20,000 might win applause today, but could another party simply call for NT$30,000 or NT$50,000? If so, politics would become less about who can govern better and more about hollering the highest bid.
A political party that is fiscally responsible would be able to tell the public where the money will come from, whether it requires additional borrowing, what public infrastructure projects or social welfare programs could be crowded out and whether such a massive one-off expenditure is consistent with the country’s long-term fiscal interests. What it should not do is take people’s tax money only to slip it into red envelopes and slap its own party label on them.
If the KMT genuinely believes that the central government has padded its budget and wasted money, it should insist that surplus funds be used to reduce debt or put forward comprehensive fiscal reforms. It should not jump from calling out the government to pushing for a larger universal cash payout in pursuit of a political sugar hit.
This is not about saving money, it is about the KMT ingratiating itself by using public money.
Elliot Yao is a reviewer
Translated by Gilda Knox Streader
As part of its relentless pursuit of hegemony, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are now sustaining two regional wars while threatening further arms races that shift the global balance of power in order for the CCP to advance its ultimate objective. Russia’s and Iran’s war efforts are being materially supported by Chinese supplies of drone components and missile fuels. So far in 2026, such Chinese support has enabled a 60 percent increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine caused by long-range Russian weapons such as missiles and drones from January to June 2026 compared with the same
A controversial fenced-in smoking area installed near Taipei’s Gongguan (公館) shopping district was dismantled on Wednesday last week after it was widely ridiculed for looking like a dog cage and for being ineffective at blocking secondhand smoke. The Gongguan smoking area, which is part of Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) push for a smoke-free city, was removed in less than 10 days after its installation, while six others were removed on the same day. City councilors have continued to question other designated smoking areas in the city, including open-air spaces enclosed by potted plants, or areas in parking lots marked by only
The “quiet revolution” of Taiwan’s democratization took shape during the 12 years that followed Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) simultaneously becoming chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and president of the Republic of China (ROC). Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) then took the presidential helm in 2000, bringing an end to one-party rule in the ROC, and was re-elected in 2004. He was followed by the KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who served two four-year terms; the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who also served two terms; and the DPP’s William Lai (賴清德), currently in his first term. Having
In the rush to summer vacation, some readers might have missed the launch of the renamed Diet members group supporting Taiwan. Indeed, the decision by Japan’s largest pro-Taiwan parliamentary organization to rename itself received only modest media attention. Yet historians might eventually view it as one of the most revealing symbolic acts in the evolution of post-World War II Taiwan-Japan relations. For the longest time, the group, founded in 1973, was called the Nikka Giin Kondankai (Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council). However, after more than five decades, the organization on June 11 adopted a new name — the Japan-Taiwan Diet Members’
RSS