On Wednesday last week, Vice President William Lai (賴清德) attended the Presidential Election Youth Policy Forum, hosted by the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy, a non-governmental organization.
Lai, the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, presented his ideas on the association’s 2024 Youth Policy White Paper. The white paper comprises three main topics: national resilience, social environment and the concerns of young people. Endeavoring to garner support from young voters, Lai raised several policy ideas based on the topics during his discussion with the audience.
Lai addressed the first topic by presenting his blueprint for building a resilient country, which he said involves accelerating Taiwan’s high-tech development, enhancing cooperation with democratic allies and bolstering defense capabilities. With the reorganization of global supply chains, it is an opportune time for Taiwan to expand its advanced semiconductor and mechanical industries globally, he said, adding that more resources need to be invested in artificial intelligence, so that small and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan can expand.
Lai also talked of the importance of producing weapons domestically and procuring military aid from allies. Reiterating that genuine peace can only be attained through strength, he said he believed that the acquisition of weapons and the extension of compulsory military service to a year are the only ways to ensure stability in the Taiwan Strait.
As for the second topic, Lai proposed optimizing the environment for start-ups and raising the minimum wage. He said the rapid transformation and upgrading of global economies have generated more value in certain industries, resulting in an overall increase in workers’ salaries and opportunities for businesses. He pledged to improve the minimum wage by promoting legislation to fulfill the needs of young entrepreneurs and workers.
Lai also advocated lowering the minimum voting age to 18. Although a constitutional referendum to lower the voting age failed to pass last year, he said he was determined to work with the Legislative Yuan to encourage the involvement of young people in the democratic process.
As a young adult who is still unable to participate in elections, I am thankful to Lai for his support of this issue. Nevertheless, as constitutional referendums can only be passed with at least 50 percent of all eligible voters (equivalent to 9.62 million last year) voting in favor of them, they require an extremely high voting turnout that is almost unachievable. It would perhaps be more practical for the government to pursue other means to enable young voices to be heard.
Besides youth voting rights, Lai also mentioned problems with high rental prices and introduced a plan to make renting more affordable for young people. The plan mainly involves increasing a provision for rental subsidies to 1 million households, as well as building 130,000 more social housing units.
The program has the potential to alleviate the financial pressure felt by many young renters, but some landlords oppose it, worrying that such policies might force them to pay higher taxes. Hence, it is crucial that the government hold regular dialogues with both sides until mutually beneficial solutions are found.
The forum provided a golden opportunity for the presidential candidates to interact with young people and assure the audience that government leaders plan to incorporate their opinions in their policymaking process.
Most importantly, regardless of our political stances, we should all put aside our differences and exercise our democratic rights, so that our freedom can be sustainably preserved.
Tshua Siu-ui is a Taiwanese student studying international relations and politics in Norwich, England.
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