Seven of the nation’s administrative regions, encompassing 57.2 percent of Taiwan’s townships and villages, became “super-aged societies” in June, the Ministry of the Interior said in its latest report.
A region is considered super-aged if 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older.
The ministry report showed that Taiwan had 4,391,744 people aged 65 or older as of June, representing 18.76 percent of the total population and an increase of 1,024,425 people compared with August 2018.
In June, the nation’s elderly dependency ratio was 27.3 senior citizens per 100 working-aged people, an increase of 7.39 people over August 2018, it said.
That means there were about four working-aged Taiwanese for every person aged 65 or older who needed support, down from five last year, it said.
Chiayi County was the oldest region with 22.77 percent of its population aged 65 or older, followed by Taipei at 22.51 percent, Nantou County at 21.28 percent, Yunlin County at 20.85 percent, Keelung at 20.76 percent, Pingtung County at 20.54 percent and Hualien County at 20.2 percent, the report said.
Taipei and Keelung likely made the list due to the draw of better access to medical resources in the cities, the ministry said.
Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City, Lienchiang County and Taoyuan were the youngest regions with people older than 65 accounting for 14.25 percent, 15.06 percent, 15.4 percent and 15.48 percent of the local population respectively, it said.
The prevalence of young people in the jurisdictions — especially in Hsinchu county and city, home of the nation’s semiconductor industry — were likely linked to the high availability of jobs or other geographical factors, the ministry said.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) last week introduced a bill urging the government to adjust its economic policy to account for the country’s aging population.
The bill, cosigned by legislators from across party lines, calls for replacing official language referring to “old age” and “senior citizens” with terms such as “the long-lived” and “of the strong generation.”
Taiwan is expected to lose 10 million people from its population in the next five decades to become the fastest-aging society in the world, Wu wrote in the bill’s statement of purpose, citing National Development Council data.
The nation must establish a basic law to address the aging crisis, as Japan did 30 years ago, he said, adding that Taiwan cannot afford inaction.
A Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the bill’s proponents should provide a clearer definition for terms such as “the strong generation” before passing amendments.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS