Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) warned yesterday that the number of unemployed in the nation may hit a record high of 1.3 million in June if the government does not come up with effective policies.
“The latest official number is 600,000 unemployed as of last month and that number is likely to go up to 700,000 this month,” Tsai said during a demonstration to protest high unemployment in Taipei yesterday.
“But don’t forget that among the 300,000 people who graduated from university this year, 40 percent to 50 percent of them are still unemployed,” she said. “With many people currently on unpaid leave and 300,000 more graduating in May and June, the number of unemployed will soon hit a record high of 1.3 million.”
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
Tsai slammed the government for being incapable of coming up with effective policies to combat the problem. She said the government has made many promises and presented many policies to create more jobs in the 10 months since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May — but none of the promises have been fulfilled and none of the policies have been effective.
“More than 680,000 jobs — they promised — should have been created if the policies had been effective and we wouldn’t have such a serious unemployment issue,” Tsai said.
Huang Hsin-che (黃鑫哲), a 20-year-old college freshman, said he is already worried about getting a job.
“At this time last year, I was getting ready to head to Kenting [墾丁] for the Spring Scream [Rock Festival],” Huang said, “But this year, I want to scream at Ma Ying-jeou: ‘I want a job.’”
Huang said it is hard to even find a part-time job.
Another college senior from Tainan said he was frightened by the fact that he would graduate in June and may not be able to find a job.
“It’s not just about being unemployed, it’s also about how am I going to pay for my NT$100,000 [US$2,900] student loan after I graduate,” he said.
In related news, at a separate setting yesterday Council of Labor Affairs Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said “internships count as jobs, too” in response to critics who say a sizable number of the job openings the government has promised to provide were short-term internships.
The Executive Yuan has called on various agencies, including the council, the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Council of Agriculture, the National Youth Commission and the Coast Guard Administration to provide 341,000 job openings this year. The government has also promised to provide jobs for 40,000 people at four job fairs to be held in various parts of the country.
However, 33,500 of the job openings under the education ministry are internships and only available to this year’s college graduates.
Faced with criticism that the government’s promise of 40,000 job openings would not be met, Wang said: “The government will definitely fulfill its promise.”
“Even though the 40,000 job openings under the Ministry of Education are internships at privately owned firms, the costs are paid for by the government. So the nature of the job opening is actually the same as a civil servant position,” she said at a press conference.
Son Yu-lian (孫友聯), secretary-general of the Taiwan Labour Front, criticized government officials for playing a numbers game.
Saying that mass job fairs were like carnivals that attract job seekers who “go from being hopeful to being disappointed and then finally give up,” Son proposed the government bolster local employment service centers, so that people do not have to travel so far to find a job.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS