After being blocked no less than 41 times in the pan-blue dominated Procedure Committee, the long-stalled NT$480 billion (US$14.4 billion) arms procurement bill has finally made it onto the agenda for formal review by the legislature tomorrow.
Appearing extremely exasperated and having suffered what they described as a "surprise attack" (the pan-green members took advantage of their pan-blue counterparts' tardiness by initiating a vote on the bill before most of them had arrived), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party alliance vowed to overturn the bill, with KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Why so much anger from Ma? What great sin have the pan-greens committed by voting to send a bill that aims to enhance the nation's defensive capability for review?
If, as Ma has often claimed, his party supports legitimate self-defense and is against only a "sucker's" arms purchase, then wouldn't the legislative review provide a good opportunity for lawmakers from his party to engage in a rational debate with their pan-green counterparts?
Ma may not be too pleased about it, but tomorrow the public will finally have the chance to see whether the pan-blues are capable of deliberating reasonably over the bill, as opposed to simply stalling it repeatedly in the Procedure Committee.
In making every attempt to pass the arms procurement bill, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has already made several compromises, including cutting the budget from NT$610.8 billion to NT$480 billion, and proposing to pay for the six anti-missile Patriot Advanced Capability-3 batteries from the Ministry of National Defense's regular budget.
The pan-greens are of the opinion that the purchase of the eight conventional submarines, 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft and six batteries of Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile systems are essential to Taiwan's national defense, and key to maintaining the balance of power with China.
Regardless of whether or not this is the case, the pan-blues' ceaseless rejection of the bill in the Procedure Committee has drawn questions from the public and fueled concern in Washington that Taiwan may, after all, not be serious about its own defense.
Without doubt, the ball is now in Ma's court. The legislative review will provide one and all with an opportunity to see whether Ma is sincere about Taiwan's defense.
To many Douglas Adams fans, the number "42" is endowed with mock-mystical power, as in his novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy it is revealed as the number from which all meaning -- of life, the universe and everything -- can be derived.
While the fact that the DPP succeeded in passing the bill on its 42nd attempt, sadly, is no more than a coincidence, an awful lot -- if not everything -- is at stake, and the public will be watching to see what role the pan-blues choose to play, and asking the question with real meaning: "Who do you stand for?"
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS