Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said the widening gap between the rich and poor must be solved through taxation and social welfare, but annual local government subsidies to elderly residents to mark the Double Ninth Festival is not the solution.
Ko made the remark after he was questioned by reporters following his speech to a Rotary International youth leadership camp in Taipei yesterday afternoon, when he was asked about a comment he made in September comparing local governments’ cash subsidies to elderly people to buying votes.
Citing French economist Thomas Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Ko said earning money with money is faster than earning money with labor, and that is why the gap between rich and poor is widening.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The government can solve the problem in two ways: imposing progressive taxes on the rich or establishing a social welfare system that takes care of minority groups and elderly people, the mayor said.
“Normally, NT$1,500 is given to each elderly person, regardless of individual requirements and situations. However, when money is spent, government policy should have a guiding effect. For example, the government could issue seniors with transit cards providing NT$480 per month for public transportation fares to encourage people to get out and participate in activities,” he said.
“Taipei is the only one [local government] not to give out cash subsidies, but other cities and counties giving out cash does not mean that it is the right thing to do,” he said.
Money should be spent in a way that achieves the greatest benefits, he said.
Subsidies for children are given out after reviewing household income and household registry locations, which means equal amounts are not given to everyone, the mayor said.
Cash for elderly people should not be handed out in equal amounts for everyone, he said, adding that improving the long-term care system is more important than handing out money.
Rotary International is scheduled to hold its 2021 annual convention in Taipei, with more than 40,000 people from more than 100 nations expected to visit for the meeting.
Rotary members asked Ko what type of city he would like to present to visitors if he is re-elected next year.
“With [so many] foreign visitors coming to Taipei, of course we want to make a fortune by having them max out their credit cards,” Ko joked.
The city has three years to prepare for the event and it will establish an ad hoc group to handle those preparations, he said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
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The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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