Is the 130,000 Social Housing Target Unchanged? Civil Groups Dissect Liu Shih-fang's Rhetoric: The 'Fatal Flaw' in the Interior Minister's Information Warfare

During the 2024 presidential election campaign, then-candidate Lai Qingde unveiled a social housing (SH) policy, pledging to add 130,000 units on top of the Tsai administration's '200,000 units in 8 years' initiative (including new construction, rental management, and rent subsidies). However, by early 2026, the policy shifted, drastically reducing the direct construction target to just 30,000 units, sparking accusations of broken promises. On the 12th, Interior Minister Liu Shih-fang emphasized that the '130,000-unit SH target remains unchanged,' only shifting to a 'diverse construction approach.' In response, Liao Ting-hui (Luo Shu), a policy researcher at OURs Urban Reform Organization, posted on Facebook titled 'The Interior Minister's Information Warfare Against the People,' bluntly stating that Liu's strategy aims to make the public 'stop believing in anything.' However, he pointed out a fatal weakness in this tactic: 'Cognitive warfare from the other side cannot be challenged with original documents, but the Interior Ministry's can. We still have a chance to fight back.'

Has Lai Qingde's Social Housing Policy Been Broken? What Did Liu Say?

Civil groups such as the Social Housing Promotion Alliance and OURs Urban Reform Organization recently pointed out that in July, the Executive Yuan revised the 'One Million Rental Households Support Plan,' slashing the direct construction target by 77% to approximately 30,000 units. On the 12th, Liu Shih-fang attended the Legislative Yuan's Interior Committee for a special report on the review of the 130,000-unit SH construction plan and faced questioning. Before the session, in a media interview, she stated that the figures circulating in public are not factual, the 130,000-unit target has not changed, and the 30,000 units are a result of collaboration between local and central governments. During the session, when questioned by legislators about whether the policy was broken, Liu responded that Lai Qingde's proposed 30,000 SH units 'will shift from direct construction to diverse construction,' but the total remains 130,000. She added that constructing SH takes time, and in the future, urban renewal could be used to increase marriage and child-rearing housing units.

On the 7th, civil groups held a press conference at the Legislative Yuan, questioning the government's SH construction plan and accusing it of breaking election promises by slashing the pre-election commitment of 130,000 units down to 30,000. (Photo credit: Central News Agency)

Is the 130,000-Unit SH Target Truly Unchanged? What Do Civil Groups Think?

Luo Shu stated that Liu Shih-fang again claimed in the Legislative Yuan that the '130,000-unit target has not changed,' and he countered by asking: 'Would Lai Qingde, who personally promised 130,000 units, dare to cut it? If Lai doesn't want to build SH, can Liu decide whether to build the full amount?' He argued that such a response is pure lying and rhetoric, relying solely on momentum to survive the questioning period. He further emphasized that the figure of 30,000 units is not fabricated by OURs; the Interior Ministry's plan clearly states 'aiming to achieve direct construction of 30,000 units.' If the 130,000-unit target remains unchanged, the Ministry can refute him with the plan document. As for the claim that '30,000 units is the first phase, seeking cooperation with local governments,' he criticized that the plan document extends all the way to 2032—can this really be called the 'first phase'? Compared to the previous President Tsai Ing-wen's two-phase plan, which had clear estimates, 'Is this Lai Qingde's clumsy imitation of President Tsai?'

President Lai Qingde unveiled housing policy promises during his campaign. (Photo credit: Ko Cheng-hui)

Can Urban Renewal and Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Incentives Secure More Privately Donated SH?

Luo Shu further pointed out that the plan document explicitly records that only 1,000 new units will be added annually starting from 2028, and this is the combined total of central and local efforts. 'Basic facts that can be verified by checking a table are being lied about.' He also mentioned that Liu Shih-fang is promoting the 'Urban Renewal Act' and 'Old and Dangerous Buildings Reconstruction Act' by highlighting the increased FAR incentive cap for SH. While acquiring SH through urban renewal, return units, and FAR incentives is beneficial, he argued that the existing system has structural flaws, and even if legal amendments pass, only a small number of SH units can be obtained. He cited data showing that by the end of 2025, urban renewal projects nationwide have supplied only 55 SH cases, covering just 4%. 'Using such a tiny amount to replace direct public construction is simply deceiving people without data into thinking it makes sense.'

Luo Shu stated that Liu Shih-fang's strategy during the Legislative Yuan report is very clear: to make up nonsense, invent new terms, and take the bullet for the Executive Yuan. He described it as a direct information warfare operation conducted by the Interior Minister against her own people. He outlined the following steps:

Step 1: Deny the existence of documents: Label the official plan, approved by the Executive Yuan and written by her own ministry, as 'figures circulating in public.'

Step 2: Create parallel realities: The plan says 30,000, but she says 130,000 hasn't changed, allowing two versions of reality to coexist in the media, leaving the public feeling 'everyone has their own story, it's so confusing.'

Step 3: Invent new terms to dilute focus: Terms like 'first phase' are sufficient to derail the discussion.

Step 4: Wait for forgetting: Survive the questioning, wait for the news cycle to pass, and then switch to a new narrative next time.

Luo Shu concluded that this tactic is not meant to convince but to make people abandon verification, stop distinguishing truth, and stop believing that 'facts' exist. When people start thinking 'politics is just everyone having their own story,' the cost of lying drops to zero.

More exclusive reports from Storm Media:

· Who suffers most from Lai Qingde cutting 100,000 SH units? Civil groups reveal the 'reason they dare to break promises': Destroying Tsai Ing-wen's system and dragging local governments down

· SH target shrinks from 130,000 to 30,000? Wang Hung-wei slams the Interior Ministry for 'obfuscation': Lai Qingde's housing policy is a major broken promise

· Tainan and Kaohsiung construction targets cut by 99%? The Taiwan People's Party reveals Taiwan's SH demand data: The Lai administration has amnesia after the election