Just as in most other societies, social development in the Republic of China (ROC) begins with the people’s economic rights, progresses to their political rights and finally to social rights. I believe that there are two guidelines for the ROC’s social development. The first is the Principle of the People’s Welfare from Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People. Sun was kidnapped for 13 days in London in 1896 by the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) court embassy there. Following his “stay,” he spent a lot of time studying documents and papers at the British Museum. Later when he returned to China and drafted the Three Principles of the People, many of the concepts in the Principle of the People’s Welfare were based on European—especially French and British—concepts of how an ideal society could be achieved.
The second guideline is the ROC Constitution. From Article 152 to 154 in the Social Security Section of the Constitution, it is stipulated that the state shall provide suitable opportunities for work for those able to; that the state, in order to improve the livelihood of laborers and farmers and to improve their productivity, shall enact laws and carry out policies for their protection, while women and children engaged in labor shall, according to their age and physical condition, be accorded special protection; and that capital and labor shall, in accordance with the principles of harmony and cooperation, promote productive enterprises, while conciliation and arbitration of disputes between capital and labor shall be prescribed by law. Clearly, the Three Principles of the People and the ROC Constitution formed the blueprint for the development of the people’s social rights after the government relocated to Taiwan.
The ROC’s labor insurance system was established in 1950 and now covers more than 8 million people. (Photo by Chang Su-ching)
When Taiwan came under ROC rule in 1945 after World War II, some of the influences of Japanese colonial rule (1895–1945) remained in Taiwan, such as farmers’ associations. The Japanese, however, had not transplanted that country’s achievements in social development to Taiwan. For example, Japan did not establish a social insurance system in Taiwan, although one had existed in Japan for some time. There are a few private social welfare organizations that were established during the Japanese era, though, that are still in operation. When the Nationalist government came to Taiwan in 1949, it started almost immediately to develop the island based on the Three Principles of the People and the ROC Constitution. In the past six decades, Taiwan has been gradually built into a society where people have fair social rights that are protected by law.
This is evidenced by several developments. Firstly, we established a labor insurance system as early as 1950. Taiwan, after Japan, was the second country in Asia to have such an insurance system. We have also established systems for income security, such as an unemployment insurance scheme enacted in 1999, when the unemployment rate was less than 3 percent. Currently, more than 8 million people are covered by labor insurance, making it one of our most important social insurance programs. The system has gone through several amendments, with a key amendment being the 2009 enactment of the labor pension scheme. The scheme provides retired workers with a monthly pension instead of a one-time retirement payment, as was the case before the amendment, and thus improves their financial security. In 2008, we also started the national pension system that allows the elderly to receive a steady monthly income. Taiwan was also the second among Asian countries to initiate such a pension system. That said, we need to be very cautious about the management of the old-age pension and labor pension. The two schemes represent great progress in social development, but without proper management, could create a financial black hole for later generations.
The cost of the National Health Insurance scheme, which now covers 99.9 percent of Taiwan’s population, is shared by employers, employees and the government. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
The second mark of our progress in social rights is the National Health Insurance system. The system accords with Article 157 of the ROC Constitution, which stipulates that the state, in order to improve national health, shall establish extensive services for sanitation and health protection, as well as a system of public medical care. National health insurance systems in some countries, such as the United Kingdom, operate on a government budget. Our design is that the cost is shared by employers, employees and the government. The National Health Insurance scheme now covers 99.9 percent of Taiwan’s population. Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, has commended our system as “one of the best in the world.” Still, we can see that the National Health Insurance system needs some improvements. That is why the government pushed for the passage of laws to usher in a second-generation National Health Insurance system.
Also, the government has been putting extra effort into looking after socially and economically disadvantaged groups such as the physically or mentally challenged, low-income families, indigenous peoples and new immigrants. We have specific laws and special programs to protect the social rights of people in these groups, such as the rights to education and work. Indigenous people, for example, can claim a pension when they reach the age of 55, while it is 65 for others. Measures have also been taken to preserve indigenous culture and to assist in the economic development of indigenous communities. Since Taiwan is becoming an aging society, the government is placing a high priority on the care of the elderly, including the establishment of long-term care facilities for them.
An immigrant woman and her family at a Taipei elementary school. Taiwan has seen considerable growth in looking after the social rights of disadvantaged groups. (Photo by Chang Su-ching)
In the past decades, Taiwan has grown from emphasizing economic development to balancing it with people’s quality of life. Improving quality of life, I believe, should be given an even higher priority than economic development in the future. In 2009, President Ma Ying-jeou signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Taiwan is not a member of the UN, but signing the two covenants demonstrates our determination to guarantee our citizens their social rights. The move also demonstrates our desire to conform to international standards in these fields.
In the past century—in the past six decades to be precise—Taiwan has changed from an agricultural society to an industrial and then a post-industrial one. In the several decades from 1950 to the lifting of martial law in 1987, the government played a more patriarchic—or some would say dictatorial—role in guiding Taiwan’s social development.
The nongovernment sector, meanwhile, has also played a key role in the sense that various social movements have pushed the government to respond and progress. Such progress took Germany 130 years to achieve, but only 50 for Taiwan.
—Translated by Taiwan Review