Whither Will Lai Ching-te Shoot His Arrows?

  Whither Will Lai Ching-te Shoot His Arrows?

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

September 18, 2017

 Translation of an Excerpt

The Cabinet under Lai Ching-te sent out a big gift of a 3% pay hike to the military, civil servants and public school teachers. The new Cabinet, which promised to be a “down-to-earth government,” hopes that private sector enterprises will follow suit, promoting consumption and driving economic development. However, for rescuing the economy from the doldrums, the "placebo" of the pay hike will not be the cure. If Lai cannot find a clear-cut direction for governance, Lai Ching-te will soon understand that a “sdown-to-earth government” is something "easier said than done."

According to President Tsai Ing-wen's calculations, the change of premiers, the pay hike as well as the implementation of the forward-looking plan will go hand in hand. From the beginning of pushing for rail construction under the forward-looking plan by the government, throwing money around, coupled with the pay hike, is using pork barrel policies as a "massive prescription" to expand investment, create jobs, change the low pay situation for the youn, and stimulate an economic recovery, and through the precision maneuvering of the new Premier, turning around the current situation of low political prestige. As Lin Chuan said at his farewell press conference, "In next year’s local elections, I believe a lot of things of a political nature will come out; this is not where my interests lie." It explains all this is for politics.

More importantly, a pay hike is not equal to stimulating consumption. As the forecast just completed by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics under the Executive Yuan shows, Taiwan’s excess savings rate this year has increased over 10% for the fifth consecutive year, showing the existence of excessive idle capital. The public have a strong sense of insecurity vis-à-vis the current economic situation. Annuities cannot be relied on, the future cannot be depended on, and the government cannot be counted on; therefore, people feel they will eventually be on their own.

Lee Teng-hui criticized the Tsai government's performance, believing that the crux of the matter lay in the fuzziness of the direction of governance. Energy policies contradict themselves. For a nuclear-free homeland, air pollution has been created. The transformation of energy sources cannot keep pace with the vision. The Cabinet ministries march in chaos. The Executive and Legislative branches insist on their own, leading to snail-paced deregulation. On the economic level, the "five shortages" have become more and more serious. The moving out of businesses has caused a crisis of hollowing out of industries. The state is in decline, the economy is sliding fast, plus the complex and ironic East Asian and cross-Strait situations, social rivalry leading to endless disputes, and a helpless government with no effective actions, how could people live in ease?

If the Lai Cabinet cannot find a target for administration, restoring public confidence, with even more money, and even more arrows, they would be like skipping stones over water, unable to solve the economic predicament, and the government will not be able to eradicate the shortcomings or revitalize the nation either.

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