Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) vowed yesterday to turn President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign promises into policies later this month to facilitate their implementation and pave the way for economic improvement within six months.
“We know that the public has high hopes for the new government, but it would take at least six months before the economy could show signs of an improvement,” Liu said during a question-and-answer session in the Legislative Yuan.
Liu made the remarks in response to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) who challenged the administration’s capability to improve public livelihoods after the Cabinet’s sudden decision to raise gasoline prices, which sparked widespread criticism.
Liu said all government agencies would propose solutions to deal with the price hikes.
KMT Legislator Luo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) questioned Liu on the budget source for various policies proposed by the Cabinet, including about NT$20 billion (US$660.5 million) in maternity benefits and NT$2.7 billion in subsidies for first-time home buyers.
Liu said the Cabinet would prioritize the policies outlined in Ma’s campaign platform, allocate the budget and turn these proposals into formal policies by the middle of this month.
In response to KMT Legislator John Wu’s (吳志揚) question on the feasibility of realizing Ma’s promise of granting employees two-year maternity leave with 60 percent pay, Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said the council would implement the policy gradually, starting with providing female workers with 60 percent of their salary for the first six months of their two-year maternity leave.
As for Ma’s promise to provide first-time home buyers with a NT$2 million zero-interest loan for the first two years, Minister of the Interior Liao Liao-yi (廖了以) said that the government would make sure that the interest rate in the third year does not exceed 2.27 percent to protect buyers’ rights.
Liao said the policy would be implemented next year.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
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