President Lai calls for subsidies for Taiwan energy companies — Taipei Times

Taiwanese President William Lai called on lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan to support a supplementary budget to subsidize the state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and CPC Corp, Taiwan. According to him, these companies are absorbing part of the costs caused by rising energy prices amid geopolitical tensions.

As Taipei Times reports, the supplementary budget bill has already been submitted to parliament. Lai urged representatives of the ruling and opposition forces to support it jointly and also asked the medical community to persuade opposition lawmakers to vote for the proposal.

The president’s arguments

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Kaohsiung City Medical Association building, Lai said that a president’s duty is not only to promote economic development and improve life expectancy, but also to maintain social stability and control prices. He noted that increased tax revenues had enabled the government to propose budget subsidies to curb inflation.

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The president also said that additional budget revenues could be used to cover health insurance costs if an increase in insurance premiums becomes unavoidable. In his view, the same approach should be applied to fuel and electricity prices.

Costs for state-owned companies

Lai linked the rise in global prices to the war of the Russian Federation — an aggressor state — against Ukraine, the war between the United States and Iran, and tensions in the Middle East. According to him, this has led to fuel shortages or sharp increases in energy prices in some countries, while fuel and electricity prices in Taiwan have remained relatively stable.

At the same time, the president said that containing prices had created a significant financial burden for CPC Corp, Taiwan and Taipower. He stressed that adopting the supplementary budget should help avoid accelerating inflation and preserve social stability.