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.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat