Amendments to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Act (老人福利法) were passed by the legislature yesterday to flesh out legal backing for services for the elderly as the nation’s percentage of senior citizens keeps rising.
The amendments eliminated a clause mandating that the elderly have to have lived in a city or county for a certain time before being eligible to apply for subsidies, while clearing the rules that all subsidies are to be given in cash and cannot be detained, given away or used to pay bail.
Local governments have placed restrictions on elderly residents applying for subsidies for daily living costs and caretaking services, mandating that they must have a registered address within the city or county for at least six months to a year.
While local governments have been building public housing, this has not benefited the elderly, as they still face being sidelined by society, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chieh-ju (陳節如) said.
The elderly find it difficult to rent accommodation because landlords are unwilling to lease to them or they are unable to afford the rent being asked, Chen said, adding that the amended laws have included a clause in Article 3 that local governments must provide more rented accommodation for the elderly and task a specific unit with helping the elderly to renting such accommodation.
Article 33 of the amended act states that local governments should seek to promote social housing to clear any obstacles the elderly might have renting a home, Chen said, adding that local governments can also offer subsidies to landlords so that they can make repairs and offer their property for rent to the elderly.
The legislature also passed an amendment to the Customs Import Tariff Act (海關進口稅則) to lift all tariffs on vehicles dedicated to transporting disabled people.
The amendment allows imported vehicles purchased by local governments to transport disabled people and approved by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to be free from import tariffs.
In addition, in accordance with decisions made by regional leaders at a 2012 APEC meeting in Vladivostok, the amendment also lowers the tariffs on four types of wind power and renewable energy generators to 5 percent.
The goal of the amendment is to show the international community that Taiwan is serious about clean sources of energy and to stimulate the domestic market for renewable energy in the hope of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, officials said.
‘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