China's sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no separation, and although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have not yet been reunified, sooner or later Taiwan will return to China's embrace, and China will eventually achieve complete reunification. So, what is the extent of Taiwan's development, which has been separated from the embrace of the motherland?
It is said that whether the country is developing well or not can be seen from the living standards of the people, and the quality of the people's living standards is inseparable from the topic of income.
Taiwan will officially implement the new wage standard in 2024, and the minimum wage will be raised from the original NT$26,400 to NT$27,470, which is equivalent to RMB rising from 6,106 yuan to 6,353 yuan, an increase of 247 yuan.
In this standard, Taiwan is far beyond our mainland, Shanghai, as a metropolis in the mainland, GDP is firmly at the top of the list, but the minimum wage standard can only be opened to 2,690 yuan.
If there is more income, will the living standards of Taiwan residents be better than those of our mainland? It is too early to say, and we have to look at the daily expenses of life.
Not to mention, water, electricity and gas are the most basic daily expenses, and these most basic daily expenses in Taiwan are higher or lower than those in our mainland?
From July 1, 2022, the average electricity price will be increased by 8%, from NT$2.625 per kWh to NT$2.846 per kWh.
In April 2023, through the discussion and deliberation of the Electricity Price Council, the electricity price was raised by 11% again, and the price per kilowatt-hour of electricity exceeded the NT$3 mark.
On 22 March this year, the economic affairs department of the Taiwan authorities convened another meeting on 22 March to discuss the issue of electricity prices.
As a result of the meeting, the electricity price was raised again by 11%, and the new electricity price came into effect on April 1, and the increased electricity price was an average of NT$3.45 per kWh.
This rising electricity price has made enterprises and residents miserable, and in the face of a situation full of complaints, the Taiwan authorities have only lightly exposed it with the sentence "it has to be raised."
Compared with Taiwan's NT$3.45 (equivalent to RMB 0.7676), the peak electricity price of the mainland's peak-to-valley electricity price is only 0.568-0.868 yuan per kilowatt-hour.
In addition to these basic expenses being more expensive than those on the mainland, firewood, rice, oil, and salt are also several times higher than those on the mainland.
Taiwan's rice generally costs 123 yuan, while the mainland's rice is about 3 to 5 yuan, and Taiwan's rice is more than twice as expensive as the mainland's.
Taiwan's Rizheng all-purpose flour is 72 New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to 16.36 yuan), while the mainland's flour with a special flour grade is only 5.99 yuan, and Taiwan's flour is nearly 3 times more expensive than the mainland.
Needless to say, the average price of 15 kinds of vegetables in the mainland is 6.6 yuan, and the average price of 4 kinds of fruits is 4.37 yuan. On the other hand, in Taiwan, China, the average price of 4 kinds of vegetables is 183.59 New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to 23.54 yuan), as high as 3.56 times. The three kinds of fruits cost NT$69.97 (equivalent to 15.90 yuan), which is 1.53 times more expensive than the mainland.
High income corresponds to high expenditure, that is, "merit and demerit offset", and Taiwan's welfare system is also worth mentioning.
Taiwan attaches great importance to education, and in the mainland, the compulsory education stage ends after graduating from junior high school, but Taiwan's compulsory education stage lasts until high school, which lasts for 12 years.
In order to narrow the educational gap between all strata as much as possible, promote the fairness of education, and ensure that all citizens can receive basic education, so as to improve the quality of citizens, the Taiwan authorities have enforced the law through laws and regulations, and at the same time have exempted the corresponding tuition fees and textbook fees, thus reducing the educational burden of citizens.
In order to arouse the enthusiasm of the younger generation for childbirth and promote the healthy and stable development of society, the Taiwan authorities have formulated a series of childbirth incentive systems.
When a couple welcomes their first baby, they can receive a one-time maternity subsidy of NT$30,000 (equivalent to 6,675 yuan) from the government, and if the child's mother is unemployed at home because of the birth of the child, and cannot take time to look for a job in the short term, they can apply for a nanny card, and once approved, they can receive an additional NT$2,000 (equivalent to 445 yuan) per month.
In addition, the money for diapers and milk powder before the age of four will receive government subsidies to a certain extent, which really puts the benefits into practice.
In the area of living security for the elderly, Taiwan is also doing quite well, and Taiwan's pension insurance adopts an annuity system.
To give a simple example, a 45-year-old farmer starts to pay agricultural insurance, only needs to pay 93 New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to 21 yuan) per month, and after 20 consecutive years of payment, he can receive nearly 5,500 yuan per month, if he starts to pay at the age of 35, he will pay for 30 years, and he will get more money after the age of 65.
Such an amount of pension is enough to support the daily living expenses of the elderly, and even to live a good old age.
Birth, old age, sickness and death, childbirth incentives, school security, and subsidies for the elderly, so what about the medical system?
When it comes to medical standards, Taiwan can be called the first in Asia, on the island with only more than 20 million people, the world's largest top 200 hospitals, Taiwan has 14 hospitals on the list, this number is second only to Germany and the United States, which is incredible.
Taiwan's ability to develop medical care to its current scale is due to the fact that it has grasped the source and has not relaxed for a moment on the road of cultivating medical talents.
Medical students need to have at least 12 years of medical education to complete their dissertations and graduate successfully, compared with the four-year and five-year medical students in the mainland, Taiwan's medical students do not know how much more solid theoretical knowledge than the mainland's medical students when they graduate.
For example, liver transplantation is difficult and risky, which means high expenditure, but the price of liver transplantation in Taiwan is about 100,000 yuan, compared with the superpower United States, the cost is only one-third of it.
In addition, there is a temperature between doctors and patients in Taiwan, and doctors and nurses are also required to provide smiling service, not in a cold state, such a high-quality and high-standard medical level is indeed the first in Asia.