Addressing the Youth Policy Forum's (YPF) 2013 national conference hosted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Premier Jiang Yi-huah stated while listening to the young representatives' reports, he has not only witnessed the dynamism, innovation and diligence of Taiwan's youth but also envisaged the country's bright future. He encouraged all young people to foster their abilities and ambitions in order to fully prepare themselves to seize the future and become the backbone of the nation's competitiveness.
The YPF, a Youth Policy Union (YPU) event, was advocated by President Ma Ying-jeou during his 2008 presidential campaign and formulated by the now-defunct National Youth Commission. Over 80 percent of the proposals put forward by the youth representatives at the conference have been adopted by the administration, demonstrating their creativity and event's effectiveness in contributing to national policy.
The forum was divided into four themed panels—society, international affairs, interdisciplinary and education—which respectively explored the following issues: helping youths cope with a society that is aging rapidly, cultivating youths' global mobility through international participation and overseas experiences, deriving a sustainable energy policy from the current nuclear power plant controversy and raising the nation's competitiveness by closing the gap between the knowledge students learn in school and the skills needed by employers.
Each discussion panel had both a proposal stage and a question stage. Ministry heads provided answers on issues related to their jurisdictions, and the premier concluded with an all-encompassing response to all the questions and proposals.
Jiang said that at least 20 percent of the population will be age 65 or over several years hence, which would make Taiwan a super-aged society. "This will pose many challenges, such as the necessity of tailoring living environments, mass transportation and other facilities to the needs of senior citizens. Younger individuals will also need to provide proper care for their elderly family members. The core concept for managing an aged society is to create a well-rounded infrastructure that allows the elderly to enjoy healthy lifestyles from their retirement to the end of their days," he stressed.
Commenting on young people's international participation, Jiang said that due to cross-strait politics, the ROC's position in the international arena is very different from other countries'. Although it only has diplomatic ties with about 20 nations, however, it maintains political, economic and socio-cultural interactions with many others, and its citizens are granted visa-free or landing visa privileges in 133 countries or territories. Jiang encouraged young people to use these hard-earned advantages to the fullest to expand Taiwan's participation in the international community.
Nuclear power is still used because its production cost is only NT$0.7 (US$0.02) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which is much lower than the over NT$10/kWh (US$0.33/kWh) required to generate energy from natural gas, wind or solar power, Jiang stated. Taiwan's current average electricity price is NT$3.6/kWh (US$0.12/kWh), so excluding nuclear power would make hikes to the electricity rate inevitable, he inferred. "That would increase the burden on low- and low-to-middle income households as well as industries that consume a greater amount of power," he said.
The premier also expressed hope that the controversy surrounding the completion of the Longmen Nuclear Power Plant can be settled with a public referendum.
The education-employment gap involves schools' designation of their roles and demands of teachers, the premier said. "Teacher-student interaction is the center of school education; hence, in addition to tutoring students on integrity and life goals, teachers need to confer them with job hunting and employment skills. I hope the public and private sectors can work together to encourage schools and teachers to continue to play that role," he affirmed.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Tseng Chung-ming, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gary Song-huann Lin, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Francis Kuo-hsin Liang and Deputy Minister of Education Chen Der-hwa answered students' questions for the society, international affairs, miscellaneous and education panels, respectively.