The squatter/Carlos Pueblo

 The squatter/Carlos Pueblo

Current political hot subject in Taiwan other than Chinese to invade Taiwan is the squatter, in another words , the illegal construction by politicians in Taiwan. I am interested in it as I describe that Taiwan is very unique, a small island nation of the size 1/12 of the State of Texas yet with almost the same population, 24 million in Taiwan vs 29 million in Texas. Taiwanese need the space to room their family and 90% of constructions are some kinds of illegal, people add additional structures or the rich find a way to ignore the law. There are at least three topics in discussion now in Taiwan that draw my attention.

It is very interesting to me because that I have learned so much for so long about the matter even when I was in Taiwan. One of the main factor to appreciate the land value is the development of the governmental projects such as the high speed rail, subway in the large cities, farm land changed to a residential use, etc. Investors can make a fortune by purchasing the designated land before it is converted. Mayors or some legislators may leak the information to their relatives or friends we call it insider information in the U.S. Security Exchange and is a criminal offense.

For the profit of the land change, the way to solve is a proper taxation. The profit, or the gain, must be taxed from land owners when they sell and realize gains. For the illegal construction, instead of removing beautiful improvements, we can encourage the offenders to donate to the public for the benefit of the public that some one in distinguish has done that. I believe that is a frugal way and making more sense. I show the example in my Chinese edition of this article you can read it in case of your curiosity, Chia- Chuan Su is the name who used to be like the speaker of the House in Taiwan. He donated his illegal farm house to the public as a museum to get out of his jam with the law.