Unsurprisingly, the Legislative Yuan ended its spring session in chaos, failing to pass a number of critical bills that seriously affect the livelihoods of ordinary people and the national interest.
Amendments to the Statute Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) failed for a third time after physical confrontation between the governing and opposition parties. The pan-greens stopped the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) from putting the amendment to a vote on the legislative floor. The pan-blues, in return, blocked all of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) proposals, and the legislature went into its summer recess on Tuesday amid pandemonium.
While legislators never cease to entertain -- or embarrass -- the public by putting on antics such as water-fights, cup-tossing, spitting and all-out wrestling matches, one expects that these so-called lawmakers could at least have made themselves useful during the past three months. They could have, say, voted on bills -- the reason they were elected to office.
But no.
Other than passing amendments to the Statute Governing Charity Donations (
In all, 75 bills were passed, even less than the 86 passed in the previous session.
A number of critical bills that affect the country's economic performance and development failed to pass, including budget bills pertaining to public infrastructure, flood-control projects, investment projects by state-owned enterprises and unfreezing around NT$200 billion in revenue meant for the central government.
This is not to mention the long-stalled review of the state public prosecutor-general nominee, approval of Control Yuan members and the arms-procurement plan. Also, the draft labor insurance supervisory commission organic law, which provides for more rigorous management of the nation's pension funds, went nowhere.
And what about amendments to the Organic Law of the Executive Yuan (
Leaving these major bills in abeyance not only seriously hobbles the government's operations, but has also halted a number of major public construction plans.
While the DPP caucus had urged holding a provisional session during the summer recess to deliberate on key bills, the pan-blue camp said it would not agree to such a meeting if the pan-greens continued to block the PFP's proposal on direct links.
It is apparent that to the pan-blues, passing the PFP's amendment on direct links and allowing direct travel between Taiwan and China mattered more than the lives and safety of the people who live in flood-prone areas.
One can't help but wonder who would really benefit from direct links. Would it be the general public?
Or would it be a handful of business conglomerates? Or would it be to further the goal of "ultimate unification" between Taiwan and China, as KMT Chairman Ma Ying?jeou (
Let's hope that the lawmakers come to their senses soon, rather than holding Taiwan hostage to their own self-interest.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
RSS