The number of people living below the poverty line has reached its highest level ever, signaling the fragile state of the economy and that the recovery could be benefiting some more than others, a report said.
In the second quarter of this year, 264,000 people nationwide were found to be living on less than NT$9,829 a month, the Chinese-language Commercial Times said, quoting from a Ministry of the Interior report.
The number was an increase of 9.77 percent, or 26,000, from the same period last year. Since 2000, more than 100,000 people have fallen under the poverty level, reports have said.
Observers said the figure was surprising, given signs that Taiwan’s economy could grow more than 6 percent this year as export orders pick up and unemployment falls.
Originally set to be released on Thursday, the report also said the figure meant that an estimated 108,000 families were currently living below the government-defined poverty level, an increase of 11 percent since last year.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) called the numbers the latest confirmation of Taiwan’s widening income gap and proof that government policies over the last two years have benefited big businesses at the expense of the working class.
“If a company like Foxconn sneezes, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration catches a cold,” DPP spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said. “We’ve been warning all along that these figures are the natural result of the government’s policies.”
The DPP said it hoped the numbers could increase pressure on the government to agree to opposition party demands that the legislature more stringently review the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed with China in June.
The agreement, which lowers cross-strait trade tariffs, has led to concerns that it could lower middle-class salaries and impact small and medium-sized enterprises because of an influx of cheaper goods from China. Last month, an internal report given to legislators by the Legislative Research Bureau showed that the ECFA could widen the income gap after taking into account Hong Kong’s statistics after signing a similar tariff agreement with China.
Playing on such concerns, the DPP has recently released a series of TV advertisements, saying that passing the ECFA could result in Taiwan following in Hong Kong’s footsteps.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
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