A legislative committee meeting intended to be a briefing on this weekend’s cross-strait talks ended abruptly yesterday amid physical confrontation.
The adjournment of the meeting meant cross-strait policy makers and negotiators were denied the opportunity to brief the committee.
The third round of cross-strait talks between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), will be held from Saturday to Wednesday in Nanjing, China.
SCREENSHOT FROM ETTV NEWS
Both sides are expected to sign three agreements on financial cooperation, changing direct cross-strait charter flights into regular flights and joint efforts to combat crime, as well as a joint statement on opening Taiwan to investment from China.
UNHAPPINESS
The committee meeting yesterday began with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators complaining that Chiang was not present.
A skirmish began while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) was at the podium, after he said that rather than criticizing Chiang, the DPP should have condemned former SEF heads under the DPP administration for failing to report to the committee.
Lee and DPP legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) then engaged in a shouting match after Lee asked Chiu to stop interrupting him and show manners.
Offended by his remarks, Chiu rushed to the podium and asked Lee to apologize, saying his sister, Diane Lee (李慶安), was the one lacking upbringing.
Diane Lee quit her position as a legislator earlier this year after being found to possess US citizenship in violation of the law.
BICKER
Committee chairman KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), ordered a recess, Chiu and Lee continued to bicker, with Lee challenging Chiu to hit him and calling her a pofu (潑婦, “shrew”).
Chiu demanded Lee Ching-hua apologize.
When no apology was forthcoming, Chiu slapped Lee’s face. Lee Ching-hua then shouted “violent party” and called Chiu a “violent shrew.”
PUTTING ON A SHOW
KMT Legislator Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝) criticized Chiu for “putting on a show.” Chiu then asked what Chu would do if she were called a “shrew.”
Chu replied she would never do anything to merit that title. Chiu burst into tears.
Wu later expressed regret over the incident and said he was taken aback. He also apologized for failing to prevent the clash.
As Wu asked committee members to decide on a proposal by KMT lawmakers to adjourn the meeting, DPP legislators demanded Lee apologize.
Ignoring the DPP request, Wu adjourned the meeting, leading to the two sides engaging in a shoving match.
Demands by DPP legislators that Lee Ching-hua apologize to Chiu were ignored.
Both sides then followed up by holding separate press conferences and blaming each other.
The KMT condemned the DPP for “resorting to violence.”
KMT caucus secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) demanded Chiu be referred to the legislature’s Discipline Committee.
“Legislators enjoy immunity for their remarks [within the legislature] but they do not have immunity for resorting to violence,” she said, urging DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to take responsibility for the conflict.
Lee Ching-hua also protested his innocence, accusing Chiu and other DPP legislators of assaulting him and his legislative aide.
“I’m sorry that the DPP has used violence again. I’m also sorry that I could not slap her back because I am a man,” he said.
Lee Ching-hua argued that he called Chiu a “harridan” because “that is what she is.”
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) supported Lee Ching-hua, accusing Chiu of giving him the finger two months ago.
Fai said Chiu should spend more time studying ethics.
Later yesterday, Lee Ching-hua filed a lawsuit against Chiu at the Taipei District Court for “harming him and smearing him in public.”
“I did not sue her for my own ends. I sued her because violence is contagious ... I would like to curb violence,” he said.
Lee Ching-hua said he was “very shocked” when Chiu slapped him.
“Under no circumstances can you assault a male legislator or give him the finger,” he said.
He said he might consider dropping the lawsuit if Chiu formally apologized to him.
The DPP caucus supported Chiu, saying Lee should apologize for humiliating Chiu.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the conflict resulted from the absence of ministers in charge of the three agreements and a joint statement both sides planned for the Chiang-Chen meeting.
Chiu was merely expressing a firm position on behalf of the Taiwanese people, Ker said, but she was suppressed by the “China sympathizers,” and Lee in particular.
“He should leave the legislature like his sister,” he said.
Chiu said she could not tolerate anyone insulting her parents and pledged to “fight to the death” in defending them. She admitted slapping Lee, but said it was not a violent act and vowed to protect her honor and that of other women.
She criticized the KMT for being “gutless” in defending Lee Ching-hua, who she called a “chauvinist pig.”
“I cried because I was angry, but I will not cry again,” she said. “I will not let a low-class Mainlander get away with it.”
Chiu said Lee Ching-hua was not qualified to say that she received no education.
She said Lee Ching-hua’s sister had lied to the public about her US citizenship and had illegally received more than NT$10 million (US$300,000) in income while serving as a public servant. She was the one who was really lacking in education, Chiu said.
DPP caucus whip Kao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) warned the KMT caucus not to send Chiu to the legislative Discipline Committee, or the DPP caucus would respond in kind.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
RSS