People aged 16 to 22 would soon be eligible to receive an annual NT$500 (US$16.46) voucher for sporting events, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday.
The policy aims to promote the development of the sports industry, and foster good exercise habits among the younger generation, it said.
About 1.65 million people would benefit from the policy, the Cabinet said.
Photo: CNA
The vouchers, released as QR codes, would be available to those born from Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2007, and can be obtained online from June 1 to Dec. 31 and redeemed at designated locations.
The vouchers would be issued annually beginning this year, the Executive Yuan said.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) has said that similar vouchers, distributed twice during the COVID-19 pandemic, brought about NT$5.7 billion in benefits and NT$3.3 billion in spillover effects, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉承) said.
The voucher program is expected to cost up to NT$825 million, and the funds would be sourced from the sports development fund, Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) said.
The ministry hopes to achieve 1.5 to 2.5 times the benefits of vouchers cashed in, Lin said.
The age limits for the vouchers were set according to the Sports Administration’s sports participation statistics, which showed that 80 percent of elementary-school-aged children participated in sports, with junior-high-school students falling to 67 percent, 58 percent for high-school students and less than 50 percent for college students.
The Executive Yuan is also planning to provide a NT$1,200 “coming of age” subsidy, as well as allocate NT$22 billion for a post-pandemic school loan subsidy program to alleviate financial burdens for 550,000 students taking out loans for their education.
The government is planning to promote public transportation monthly passes in Taiwan proper, and potentially similar discounts for transportation in outlying islands, to lower travel expenses for students and commuters, Chen said.
The government’s NT$30 billion rental subsidy program would drop eligibility age restrictions from 20 to 18 to benefit more college students, Chen said, adding that the government has also invested NT$4.5 billion in funds to upgrade school dormitories and campuses.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
CALL FOR PEACE: Czech President Petr Pavel raised concerns about China’s military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and its ‘unfriendly action’ in the South China Sea The leaders of three diplomatic allies — Guatemala, Paraguay and Palau — on Tuesday voiced support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN on the first day of the UN General Debate in New York. In his address during the 78th UN General Assembly, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr urged the UN and all parties involved in cross-strait issues to exercise restraint and seek a peaceful resolution. “The well-being and prosperity of nations and their economies are intrinsically linked to global peace and stability,” he said. He also thanked partner nations such as Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the US for providing assistance
CROSS-STRAIT CONCERNS: At the same US Congress hearing, Mira Resnick said a US government shutdown could affect weapons sales and licenses to allies such as Taiwan A Chinese blockade of Taiwan would be a “monster risk” for Beijing and likely to fail, while a military invasion would be extremely difficult, senior Pentagon officials told the US Congress on Tuesday. Growing worries of a conflict come as China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan, holding large-scale war games simulating a blockade on the nation, while conducting near-daily warplane incursions and sending Chinese vessels around its waters. US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner said a blockade would be “a monster risk for the PRC [People’s Republic of China].” “It would likely not succeed, and it
‘HARASSMENT’: A record 103 Chinese warplanes were detected in 24 hours, posing severe challenges to security in the Taiwan Strait and the region, the ministry said Taiwan yesterday told China to stop its “destructive unilateral actions” after more than 100 Chinese warplanes and nine navy ships were detected in areas around the nation. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) described the number of warplanes detected in 24 hours as a “recent high,” while Beijing has so far refrained from issuing any official comment on the sorties. “Between the morning of September 17th to 18th, the Ministry of National Defense had detected a total of 103 Chinese aircraft, which was a recent high and has posed severe challenges to the security across the Taiwan Strait and in the region,”
IMPORTS: Fifty-four million imported eggs with a value of more than NT$200 million had to be destroyed, mostly because they expired in storage facilities Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) last night announced that he would resign from his post. Local media on Sunday reported that Chen had resigned due to controversy over the ministry’s egg import program. Later that same evening, the Executive Yuan said that Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) had asked the minister to stay on to resolve the issue. Chen Chi-chung last night made public his decision to resign on Facebook, saying that this time he would not be dissuaded. Chen Chi-chung earlier yesterday apologized for the furor surrounding the egg import program, but added that misinformation had made the problems worse. The government was