Taiwan candidate slams cash handout plan, calls it 'policy laziness'

Taiwan People First Party candidate Wu Hsin-tai has firmly rejected a proposed universal cash handout of NT$10,000, criticizing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) for treating public funds as political gifts. Wu argued that the NT$235.7 billion budget should be invested in crucial social services, including long-term care beds, retaining frontline nursing staff, and social housing.

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The two major parties are packaging the economic dividends that the entire nation's efforts have created into party red envelopes, wasting enormous administrative costs in a mutually escalating battle.

Wu pointed to the significant administrative costs incurred during the 2023 NT$6,000 handout, which exceeded NT$330 million for fees, system upgrades, and operational expenses. She warned that a similar distribution of NT$10,000 in 2025 would waste hundreds of millions more in administrative fees, funds that could otherwise address critical shortages in healthcare and long-term care.

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Giving cash is simply the government's most irresponsible policy laziness.

She accused the DPP of flip-flopping on the issue, recalling their past criticism of cash handouts as "leaving debt for future generations" and "vote-buying" when facing a budget deficit, only to embrace it as "AI dividends" when revenue increased. Wu also criticized Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an for perceived double standards, noting his previous insistence on cash handouts even if it meant borrowing, contrasted with his rejection of using surplus funds for tax rebates. She further lambasted the KMT for prioritizing NT$200 billion in cash handouts over NT$30 million for gifts for disabled groups.

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The 'AI dividends' brought by economic growth reaching a 39-year high were jointly created by every working person and taxpayer in Taiwan. This money belongs neither to the DPP nor the KMT.

As a healthcare professional and mother, Wu emphasized the pressing needs in Taiwan's healthcare system, including insufficient nursing staff, long waiting lists for long-term care, and a shortage of public childcare and social housing. She asserted that cash handouts represent governmental laziness and urged that the substantial budget be used to address these critical societal gaps rather than becoming a tool for political maneuvering between the two major parties.

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The DPP, when facing a NT$235 billion budget last year, called issuing cash through debt 'leaving debt for future generations' and 'policy vote-buying.' This year, after the revenue estimate was revised upwards, the same amount of money was repackaged as 'AI dividends.'