Short-term benefits erode vitality: Tsai

Tsai made the criticism when speaking at a seminar on the Taiwan's new economic development strategies in the process of globalization, which was held as part of the DPP efforts to formulate its 10-year policy guidelines.

Tsai said the KMT government cares about only short-term economic benefits and political effects, For instance, the government cares much more about the signing of cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), than about upgrading of industries, generation of job opportunities and improvement of wealth distribution; and talks only about long-term care insurance, but not on the establishment of long-term care transmission system.

“The government is only wasting time and national budget, making the nation's cornerstone gradually lose its vitality,” Tsai said.

The DPP leader said the “Taiwan's new economic development strategies in the globalization process” is the most important of the party's 10-year policy guidelines. She stressed Taiwan should review its economy-oriented development route, adding that economic growth should not be the only national goal and that economic competitiveness should come from technical innovation rather than from lowering production costs.

“The era of government allocating a large part of its resources to support corporates in the hope of creating a better environment for the national workforce has long gone, because corporates now relocate overseas in a heartbeat,” Tsai said.

While the current administration is seeking closer economic relations with China on grounds that is a preliminary step to economic integration with the rest of the world, most of the working class in Taiwan is suffering as a result of wage stagnation and shrinking job opportunities, Tsai said.

Tsai urged the KMT government not to utilize its social resources to create short-term job opportunities, but to generate long-term job opportunities such as long-term social care system, and environmental protection.

Economic Policy

During the seminars, a panel of scholars, most of whom served as Cabinet-level officials in the previous administration, shared the view that job creation, wealth distribution and industry upgrade, rather than an endless pursuit of gross domestic product (GDP) growth, should be the focus of Taiwan's future economy policy.

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