Vice president-elect Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) condemned the government for freezing gasoline and utility prices and forcing the poor to share the cost of those who consume more petroleum and said the new administration will adopt a different fuel policy after May 20.
Siew’s remarks echoed those of premier-designate Liu Chao-shiuan’s (劉兆玄) comments made in an interview on Thursday that the new administration would raise fuel prices immediately after taking office.
“On the surface, everyone enjoyed low gasoline and utility prices, but actually the policy benefited those who consume more petroleum. Such a measure is against social justice and it’s unfair,” Siew said yesterday when addressing an economic forum at Taipei International Convention Center.
Utility prices have been frozen since November last year, despite the rise in international crude oil prices, and the Cabinet said it would maintain the price freeze until it hands over power to the new government.
Siew promised to carry out a comprehensive social welfare policy, and give subsidies to low-income families in response to the upcoming gas and utility price hike.
The vice president-elect said that economic growth would not be the only goal of the new administration, as the nation was already a mature economic entity, adding that seeking social justice and substantial development would also be priorities while the new administration carries out its economic policies.
Siew promised to narrow the income gap between the rich and the poor by reviewing the tax policy.
Under president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Siews’ economic platform, the new administration will introduce a tax relief plan that would include tax refunds for low-income families whose annual income was under NT$480,000.
Families with annual incomes of NT$360,000 or less do not pay tax. Such families would also receive a subsidy that equals 13 percent of their annual income, or up to NT$46,800, per year under his proposal.
Siew said the new government would also encourage companies to create their own brands and cultivate talent, and would attract international companies to invest in local businesses in Taiwan.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS