Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday called the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and participants of the Sunflower movement “sinners” for damaging Taiwan’s economy.
He said that under their blind obstruction, the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement fell through.
The agreement and other proposals he made were prioritized around Taiwan and beneficial for the public, but the DPP, with its anti-China sentiment, “opposed [them] for the sake of opposing,” he said at a conference held by the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation in Taipei, adding that the agreement was a lost opportunity.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
During his eight years in office, the number of births defied expectations and increased by 15,000 per year, while last year, there were only 181,000 births, he said.
The national birthrate is low, yet President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) says Taiwan’s economy is the best it has been in 20 years, he said, adding that Tsai “feels good about [herself], but the people feel bad.”
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopeful who spoke at the conference, said that his motivation to run for president is to help the younger generation.
Young people around the world are facing a number of challenges, but while many people only see their anger, he sees their despair and dejection, he said, adding that the government is allowing them to just “sit around and wait.”
Responding to Ma’s comments, New Power Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said on Facebook that the low salaries and high housing prices caused by the Ma administration’s “incorrect policies” were the “real sinners” for depriving the younger generation of a future.
Taiwan’s GDP rose 30.6 percent from NT$13.15 trillion to NT$17.18 trillion (US$425.5 billion to US$555.9 billion) during Ma’s presidency from 2008 to 2016, Huang wrote.
The average monthly wage during that period rose from NT$36,383 to NT$39,213, at a rate of “only 7.7 percent, far lower than the GDP growth rate,” Huang said.
If inflation is taken into consideration, then real wages were nearly stagnant, he added.
Tsai said it was irresponsible of Ma to blame the Sunflower movement and the DPP for the poor economy.
Ma’s comments “erased” the efforts of Tsai’s government and the public over the past three years, the National Development Council said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
RSS