Vice president-elect Chen Chien-jen said in a recent interview with Chinese-language ‘Liberty Times’ (sister newspaper of the ‘Taipei Times’) staff reporter Tzou Jiing-wen that he would immediately convene the national insurance fund reform committee after he is sworn into office on May 20, with a promise to deliver a draft amendment to the Legislative Yuan within the year
Taipei Times
Date: Apr 30, 2016
Liberty Times (LT): What are your opinions on the national pension reform?
Vice president-elect Chen Chien-jen gestures during an interview in Taipei on April 19. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁): The current system is overly complicated. Not only are there different government agencies handling the same affairs, but the discrepancy of rates for different vocations are also too great. Above all, potential liabilities for all the different national pensions are at an alarmingly high level.
According to estimates, funding for military personnel’s, civil servants’ and teachers’ insurance will become insolvent in the next several years. Recent polls also show that a high percentage — 70 to 80 percent — of the public supports financial reforms and it is high time for the government to act. After all, compared with the past, the situation has become much more urgent.
Taiwan has entered a new democratic age where the public wishes to have more say in how the government does things and we hope to arrange a series of open debates as quickly as possible — hopefully within the year — to address the issue. [FULL STORY]
