This sounds exactly right to me. To piggyback on what Dan2006 is saying:
The gold card doesn’t have an employment requirement. It’s not like you have to have a job lined up to get the gold card and come to Taiwan. If that were so then it would be just like getting an ARC through employment, but that’s not what it is.
Taiwan has made a choice to relax requirements, and make it appealing for talented foreigners to come and spend time in Taiwan. Of course it’s assumed that a number of those people will want to do something while living in Taiwan, such as work, start a business, or contribute somehow. And it’s also assumed (simply by reviewing the requirements, and the lack of a work requirement) that some people who get the gold card might just “hang out” and enjoy Taiwan.
And if someone gets a gold card and just hangs around for a couple of years, well, the process has ensured that they have a PhD from a world top 200 institution, or they are an accomplished professional, etc. The type of people who are not as likely to cause trouble, but who are likely to spend money and / or hopefully become a cultural ambassador for Taiwan when traveling or returning to another country.
Taiwan population is contracting quickly. No one’s having kids. Taiwan needs to attract more bodies and taxpayers fast. Gold card holders are just a drop in the bucket, population wise, nothing to care much about. But at least they are likely to be nice people who will tend to help and not hurt Taiwan. And if some small percentage of gold card holders start a great business or do something else to make Taiwan a destination / raise Taiwan’s international profile, then the program is working.
Nope, not hurting anything to clear out the red tape and bureaucracy, and let some accomplished, vetted people live in Taiwan for awhile.