2026.10.07  Taiwan People's Party Press Release

 

 

Ahead of National Day, Taiwan People’s Party Puts Forward Six Appeals

President Lai, Stop Dividing Society
Let the Taiwanese People Move Forward Together

 

In three days, we will celebrate the Republic of China’s National Day on October 10, 2026. We are holding today’s press conference to urge President Lai Ching-te to take a step back and, as National Day approaches, listen to the concerns of grassroots people after nearly two and a half years in office. All Taiwanese who have grown up on this land hope that you will unite our country and lead Taiwan in the right direction.

 

President Lai Sees Economic Growth, but People Struggle with an Unequal Share of Its Benefits

 

As the artificial intelligence boom sweeps across the world, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry has helped deliver real economic gains. The stock market has repeatedly reached record highs, and GDP per capita has also set new records.

Yet when the government treats economic figures as proof of its achievements, we must remind President Lai not to lose sight of the people behind those numbers. Otherwise, you risk inviting the very criticism that former President Tsai Ing-wen directed at the Ma administration in 2011: being “complacent about cold statistics while failing to see people’s real lives and suffering.”

The fundamental question is this: Taiwan’s economic figures may look impressive, but are people’s lives actually getting better? A country’s progress should be measured not simply by how much its GDP grows, but by whether its people enjoy broadly shared prosperity and well-being.

 

The World Inequality Report 2026, co-edited by Thomas Piketty, reveals a stark reality: Taiwan’s top 10% of income earners receive nearly half—48.1%—of total income, while the bottom 50% receive just 11.8%, despite spending much of their lives working hard. Wealth is similarly concentrated: the wealthiest 10% hold more than 60% of total wealth, while the bottom half hold a mere 4.3%. Seventy percent of workers earn less than the average wage, and the income gap between the highest- and lowest-income 5% of households has reached a staggering ratio of 150 to one. Employee compensation as a share of GDP has fallen from 46.54% in 2008 to a record low of just 43.1% in 2024.

President Lai tells the public that “Taiwan’s GDP per capita has surpassed Japan’s and South Korea’s” and that “the economic pie has grown.” These are bold declarations. But people want to know: who has taken that larger pie?

 

As GDP grows, inflation eats away at workers’ pay. As the stock market reaches new highs, most workers without capital to invest see little benefit. The consequences are severe: the middle class is rapidly disappearing, and society is becoming increasingly polarized between rich and poor. “The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer” is no longer merely an economic theory found in textbooks. It is unfolding in Taiwan today.

 

Young People Can Barely Dare to Dream of Starting a Family: Impressive Figures Conceal Deprivation and Disillusionment

Taiwan’s gravest challenge today is not only the enormous gap between rich and poor. An entire generation is losing hope in the future.

Ten years ago, Taiwan welcomed 200,000 newborns a year. That figure has now halved and continues to fall. This is not because young people have suddenly become selfish or stopped loving children. Through their own life choices, they are casting a vote of no confidence in the future.

The DPP introduced the expanded Preferential Housing Loans for Youth program, commonly known as “New Qing’an”(新青安), to win votes. This misguided policy has poured fuel on the fire, helping drive already astronomical housing prices up another 18% over the past three years. Meanwhile, your pledge to build 130,000 social housing units has become an empty promise. Housing justice has been reduced to a tool for securing votes through false promises.

Young people are willing to work hard, but they no longer see how hard work can give them hope. Well-paid jobs always seem to belong to someone else. Newly built homes line the streets, yet young people cannot see a place for themselves in them. Inflation further erodes their ability to dream and imagine a better life. What they truly fear is not knowing what kind of future they can secure for themselves and the next generation.

 

The Justice System Has Become a Weapon of Those in Power, Undermining Democracy and the Rule of Law

Beyond the injustice of unequal distribution, your unchecked abuse of the justice system to pursue political opponents, coupled with your disregard for legislation that has passed its third reading in the Legislative Yuan, has pushed public trust to the brink of collapse. Democracy and the rule of law have been gravely undermined, while divisions and conflict among the people have intensified.

The latest report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) shows that Taiwan’s performance on judicial independence has fallen from the high-performing to the mid-performing category. The latest survey from National Chung Cheng University offers another warning: only 32.95% of respondents expressed a positive view of judges’ ability to conduct fair and impartial trials and deliver fair judgments in criminal cases—a decline of 12.85 percentage points from the previous survey.

 

Regrettably, these sharp declines in indicators and public confidence reflect your conduct. Double standards in the handling of cases have turned the phrase “a party membership card makes you untouchable” into a bitter expression of public cynicism and frustration.

The justice system is the last line of defense for the vulnerable and for fairness and justice. It must never become a weapon of political manipulation. Power must be subject to checks and balances, and no one should be beyond accountability. The justice system must not become a blade in the hands of those in power, nor should the law become a sword wielded only against dissenters. Institutions are the foundation of our country’s governance. Their rules cannot be applied selectively according to anyone’s personal preferences.

End Internal Strife and Witch Hunts; Become a President Who Unites All of Taiwan

At a time when Taiwan urgently needs to address inequality, the deprivation facing younger generations, and injustice in the legal system, the public has not seen you take the necessary action. Instead, people see you continuing to stoke division. The aftermath of the mass recall campaign has left Taiwan in a state where even someone watching a recorded course at Taipei Main Station risks being smeared by a DPP legislator as aligned with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Is this the Taiwan we want to leave to the next generation?

 

No one who has grown up on this land would accept the CCP’s coercion of Taiwan. Yet the ruling party you lead has gone to every length to find enemies among our own people and create a chilling effect. National unity cannot be built on witch hunts or on mobilizing hatred by labeling every dissenting voice a “CCP fellow traveler.”

You are not merely a president for the DPP or its New Tide faction. You are the president of the Republic of China, with a responsibility to unite Taiwan.

True unity means ensuring that young people believe they, too, can share in the fruits of economic growth. It means ensuring that people from ordinary families, without powerful connections, believe that hard work can still transform their lives. It means ensuring that everyone, whether they support or oppose the government, trusts that the justice system applies the same fair standard to all.

True leadership means finding a direction in which everyone can move forward together, rather than dividing the public into “us” and “them.”

 

This National Day, the people of Taiwan do not need to hear another recital of impressive economic figures that bear little relation to their lives. We want to hear how you intend to address the many problems before us and lead Taiwan through these difficult times.

 

The Taiwan People’s Party puts forward six Appeals and calls on President Lai to stop dividing society and fulfill the responsibilities that people expect of their president:

 

1. Stop fueling social divisions and reunite the people of Taiwan.
2. Confront the wealth gap and address social inequality 
3. Uphold the Constitution and, in accordance with the law, promulgate legislation passed by the Legislative Yuan on third reading.
4. Nominate Constitutional Court Members from across party lines and ensure that the Constitutional Court remains faithful to the Constitution.
5. End political interference in the judiciary system and stop political prosecutions.
6. Fulfill the commitment to build social housing and advance housing justice.

 

Our country is a ship that belongs to all of us. The president is at the helm, and the people are more than its crew: we face the wind and waves alongside you. As the people of a maritime nation, we have the courage to venture into the unknown and overcome adversity in our DNA. We have never shied away from a challenge. But we also expect the person at the helm to truly listen to the people.

 

A president who unites Taiwan does not make all 23 million people speak with one voice. A president who unites Taiwan ensures that every different voice can trust it will be heard.

 

That is the democracy we seek—and the better Taiwan we aspire to build.