Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) lawmakers gave up a plan to block 80 percent of the yearly budget for the Council for Hakka Affairs (CHA) yesterday, the last day of the legislative session.
The two parties withdrew the motion as dozens of Hakka protested against the planned move outside the legislature.
About 100 Hakka outside the legislature accused the blue camp of suppressing Hakka people while trying to win their votes.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien accused the DPP of suppressing the development of Hakka culture and the well-being of Hakka people.
He said an example of the DPP's anti-Hakka position was its decision to ask questions requiring knowledge of Hoklo, commonly referred to as Taiwanese, in a national exam rather than knowledge of Hakka.
political points
The demonstrators clashed with two PFP Hakka legislators, Chung Jung-chi (
The KMT and PFP proposed blocking the budget, charging that the DPP was using CHA funding to score political points.
"The KMT and PFP perceived that the Council for Hakka Affairs did not properly use its budget," the motion said.
The opposition parties had charged that some categories in the council budget benefited certain pro-DPP civic groups.
"The motion, which was raised by the PFP and KMT in the hope of avoiding abuse by the ruling party, was cancelled after we figured out that the CHA lacked the funds needed to operate and noticed that the DPP had made use of the motion for political purposes," Chung Jung-chi said at a press conference yesterday.
The PFP lawmakers, along with their counterparts from the KMT, said the DPP instigated the demonstration yesterday and vowed to request a Control Yuan investigation of CHA Chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (
But DPP Hakka Legislator Lo Wen-chia (
call for apology
Lo told Chung Jung-chi in the legislature that, "It is obvious that the KMT and PFP found that you had made a mistake by proposing the motion, otherwise you should stick to the motion as long as you believe the act is right."
"You really owe our Hakka countrymen an apology," Lo said.
Lawmakers decided yesterday that the CHA can use all of the NT$1.286 billion drafted in its budget this year.
The legislature may still block part of the budgets for the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communications and Transportation, Council of Agriculture and Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
The ministries must report to the legislature in order to access their budget.
The legislature also voted to deny NT$1.83 million for the Cabinet spokesman's media relations budget.
infrastructure
A proposed NT$770 million budget for constructing an artificial lake for water conservation was also vetoed by the pan-blue controlled legislature at the last minute.
The Cabinet must submit a report to the legislature in one month about its spending plan for certain infrastructure projects included in the special NT$500 billion special budget.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
RSS