Premier Su Tseng-chang has announced that all permanent foreign residents holding Alien Permanent Residence Cards (APRCs) and diplomats will soon be eligible for the government’s so-called “triple stimulus” consumer vouchers. According to an announcement on the Executive Yuan’s official website, effective from Monday, 16 November 2020, all APRC holders and diplomats will be able to apply for the vouchers, whereby eligible persons pay NT$1,000 and receive NT$3,000 worth of vouchers, which can be used at a variety of retail and hospitality outlets across Taiwan. Previously, only APRC holders who were spouses of ROC citizens were eligible to apply for the vouchers. According to the announcement, this new measure would extend the voucher programme to an additional 13,000 foreigners in Taiwan (around 11,600 APRC holders and 1,400 diplomats).

The ECCT has welcomed the latest move as a further step towards granting equal treatment to foreign residents in Taiwan. The ECCT’s Better Living committee has for many years been urging the government to grant equal treatment of foreign residents. This year the committee has specifically singled out the fact that foreign residents, although they pay the same tax rates as citizens, have been excluded from government benefits, such as the current triple stimulus consumer voucher programme, as well as subsidies for electric vehicles and, with few exceptions (such as Taipei City), discounts for seniors on public transport and other public facilities.