Liu Criticizes as Shallow Gov’t’s Counter Policy against M’land’s 31 Measures for Taiwan

Liu Criticizes as Shallow Gov’t’s Counter Policy against M’land’s 31 Measures for Taiwan

Source: United Daily News, China Times

March 17, 2018

The Mainland Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) under the State Council announced “31 preferential measures for Taiwan” on February 28^th. The Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China (ROC), on March 16^th, stated that the 31 measures appeared in name to benefit Taiwan but in actuality served the interests of the Mainland, so the Cabinet deleted the phrase “preferential” in the Mainland’s 31 measures for Taiwan. Meanwhile, it announced countermeasures of “strengthening Taiwan, tackling challenges without hesitation,” consisting of four major policy directions and eight strategies. What’s more, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) under the Cabinet would establish a standing ad hoc committee to monitor and analyze the follow-up developments of the 31 measures, and report on the results to the public regularly.

According to the Cabinet, the four major policy directions are to build a quality education and work environment, maintain Taiwan’s advantages in global supply chains, deepen capital markets and strengthen the cultural audiovisual industry in order to retain and attract brains. The tangible eight strategies are as follows:

1)    to increase rewards for academic researchers,

2)    to promote innovative growth,

3)    to strengthen employee reward mechanisms,

4)  to provide a better environment for medical professionals,

5)  to strengthen trade secret safeguards,

6)  to push industrial innovation and upgrade with the objective of maintaining Taiwan’s strong advantages in global supply chains,

7)  to build momentum in the stock market and to raise its profile internationally, and

8)  to strengthen and develop the local multimedia sector.

However, Christina Liu (劉憶如), a former Minister of Finance, opined that the countermeasures were too shallow, suggesting that the Cabinet start retaining talents as the first priority, aiming at overseas Chinese students who are studying in Taiwan and the second generation of overseas ROC citizens, in other words, “bringing Taiwan’s children back.”  

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