The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) caucus blocked the four new cross-strait agreements between the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait from clearing the legislative floor yesterday, sending them back to the Procedure Committee for rescheduling.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世), however, said the four agreements would automatically take effect if they were stalled in the legislature for 30 days.
The law provides for passage of recent agreements between the executive and Chinese representatives if, having received the bills for its consideration, the legislature passes them or takes no action.
DPP whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said his party would not recognize such a result.
The four agreements on direct shipping and flights, mail services and food safety were put on yesterday’s agenda by the Procedure Committee, pending floor approval, to be referred to related committees.
The KMT, however, agreed to a motion by the DPP suggesting the agreements be returned to the Procedure Committee to reschedule their reviews.
“We [the KMT] consented to the motion of the DPP as a gesture to show our respect for the DPP. We won’t budge from the 30-day timeframe. When the time is up, the four agreements will be effective automatically,” Lin said.
The Executive Yuan and the DPP have been at odds over whether all or some of the four agreements need legislative approval before they take effect.
Saying that the legislature had the right to review all four agreements, Ker called on the Executive Yuan to send agreement-related amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法), the Statute Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), the Income Tax Law (所得稅法) and the Value-Added and Non Value-Added Business Tax Act (加值型與非加值型營業稅法) to the legislature for deliberation.
“We asked the Executive Yuan to send the related bills to the legislature by the next session to be deliberated along with the four agreements,” Ker said.
The Executive Yuan says the Act Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area only requires it to send the pacts on shipping and flights to the legislature for ratification, while the other two agreements would be sent for lawmakers’ reference.
The government also argues that the contents of the four deals do not require amendment to current laws and regulations, a position not shared by all KMT lawmakers.
Lin said the Executive Yuan would determine whether the implementation of the four agreements required any revisions to current laws once the legislative procedure was complete.
In related news, an amendment to the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) was referred to the Internal Administration Committee for preliminary review.
The amendment would drop the requirement that rally or parade organizers obtain permission from police in advance of their event and require a simple registration procedure instead.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique