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《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 NHI another Tsai policy U-turn: KMT


Members of the Taiwan Solidarity Union Youth Department demonstrate outside the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday, calling on the government not to extend Chinese students national health insurance.
Photo: CNA

Members of the Taiwan Solidarity Union Youth Department demonstrate outside the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday, calling on the government not to extend Chinese students national health insurance. Photo: CNA

2016/10/26 03:00

CROSS-STRAIT TIES: TSU Youth Corps director Ho Tsung-ying said that Chinese students can only be considered ‘foreign’ if Taiwan-China relations are normalized

By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday said they were happy to see the Democratic Progressive Party government “follow the KMT’s lead” in including Chinese students in the National Health Insurance (NHI) program, but added that it represented “another policy flip-flop” by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration.

KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) said that the then-ruling KMT “had pushed the bill several times in the legislature, but had met with strong resistance from the [then-opposition] DPP.”

However, she supports the DPP “following the KMT’s lead,” although it necessitated another “hairpin turn by the president on policy.”

KMT caucus secretary-general Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) praised the DPP for “following the KMT’s lead,” but added that since the decision had not been discussed by the DPP caucus or mentioned by the Mainland Affairs Council prior to Monday’s announcement, “it made it feel like the abrupt decision was an attempt to make it [the DPP government’s] achievement.”

DPP Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said the policy would “accommodate changes in the big picture and public opinion.”

“Chinese students come to Taiwan to study and they should be treated as well as other foreign students without discrimination,” he said.

Tsai on Monday instructed the DPP caucus to pass proposed amendments to the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) that would extend NHI coverage to Chinese students, while putting the kibosh on the provision of government-subsidized premiums to non-Taiwanese students.

The DPP caucus in 2014 and last year proposed granting NHI coverage to Chinese students, but required them to pay the full premium.

It was opposed by the KMT caucus, which insisted that the government subsidize 40 percent of the premium — as it does with other foreign students.

Deputy Minister of Education Tsai Ching-hwa (蔡清華) yesterday said that Tsai’s policy direction is in line with humanitarian values to offer students better protection and should boost the nation’s recruitment of Chinese students.

Chinese students in Taiwan are not currently covered by the NHI program.

Asked about the monthly premium that international students have to pay after the policy takes effect — NT$1,249, which is more expensive than those offered by some private insurers — Tsai Ching-hwa said that NHI coverage is more comprehensive compared with most private health insurance programs.

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), which opposes the proposed policy, staged a protest outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.

TSU Youth Corps director Ho Tsung-ying (侯宗穎) said that while the move seems to guarantee equality between Chinese and other foreign students, the fact is that the “abnormal relationship” between Taiwan and China persists, with Taiwanese government agencies continuing to refer to China as the “Mainland,” which shows that the government is still mired in the “one China” framework.

Chinese students can only be considered “foreign students” if Taiwan-China relations are normalized, with Taiwan no longer referring to China as the “Mainland,” but rather the “People’s Republic of China,” he said.

Cross-strait ties should be referred to as Taiwan-China relations in laws and government documents, and the Mainland Affairs Council should be merged into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he added.

TSU Youth Department director Hsu Ya-chi (許亞齊) said there is no reason to grant Chinese students, who have never paid taxes in Taiwan, the right to enjoy NHI benefits, which are supported by taxes paid by Taiwanese citizens and are a social welfare benefit.

“China is an enemy state that has deployed thousands of missiles against Taiwan and has not given up on the idea of annexing Taiwan,” he added.

Additional reporting by Sean Lin

新聞來源:TAIPEI TIMES

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