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By Teng Hon-yuan 鄧鴻源
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Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) deputy secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said that Taiwan’s low birthrate is no longer a warning sign, but a fact of life. The declining birthrate has become a genuine national security crisis. More dire yet is that it is not merely low, but the lowest on Earth.
Why is this the case? Is it not because the KMT promoted an unfair and unjust pension system? Why is it that only military personnel, police and civil servants can receive continuous pay raises while in service and enjoy a preferential interest rate of 18 percent after retirement, while everyone else receives no such benefit? KMT legislators have also encouraged property developers to speculate in the real-estate market, leaving many Taiwanese with no hope of owning a home.
Lin said the Democratic Progressive Party repeatedly points to record highs in the stock market and impressive economic indicators in an attempt to create an atmosphere that Taiwan is doing well. If society truly felt secure and hopeful, why would young people choose not to have children?
A nation’s birthrate reflects the most honest portrait of society.
Why does the KMT continue to focus solely on workplace and retirement benefits for the military, police and civil servants while ignoring the welfare of all other groups? What is the purpose of opposing pension reform? Are they aware that the retirement funds of average workers are far lower than that of military personnel and civil servants?
Lin said that systems such as child development accounts and baby bonds have long existed internationally and are considered important policy tools for addressing intergenerational inequality and restoring confidence to start families. The national security crisis posed by low birthrates transcends party lines — it decides whether Taiwan’s next generation has a future.
If it were not for the massive national defense budget required to face the threat of a hostile neighbor, China — and for the extremely high pensions awarded to military personnel, police and civil servants — the money saved could certainly fulfill Lin’s wishes.
KMT legislators even questioned Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) about why the general budget has not yet been approved and why fighter jets have not yet been upgraded. Is the real issue not that the KMT has continuously blocked both the general budget and the special defense budget?
Teng Hon-yuan is a university professor.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
