Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators boycotted a Transportation Committee meeting yesterday to show their opposition to a proposed amendment to the Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects (促進民間參與公共建設法) that would allow Chinese investment in public construction works.
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) said the committee had passed a resolution asking the Public Construction Commission (PCC) to hold a hearing on the amendment. The commission held a hearing but did not include suggestions and recommendations made by experts at the hearing in its report, she said.
The amendment presented to legislators yesterday did not specify in what areas Chinese companies would be allowed to invest or what areas they would be barred from, Yeh said.
“However, a commission press release on May 11 said 11 areas related to infrastructure at the proposed [Taoyuan] airport zone, seaports and tourism and entertainment would be opened for Chinese investment following the build-operate-transfer [BOT] model,” she said. “Are you planning on selling Taiwan to China or what?”
She said it would be inappropriate to review the amendment article by article so the commission should redo its proposal and resubmit it.
Yeh’s motion was quickly seconded by her DPP colleagues, including some non-committee members. They accused the government of planning to outsource Taiwan’s mountains and seas to China as a BOT project.
Enraged by the words of the committee chair — Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsao Erh-chang (曹爾忠), who said the proposed amendment was legitimate and legal — the DPP committe members took Tsao’s seat and blocked Public Construction Commission Chairman Fan Liang-shiou (范良銹) from responding to accusations from legislators.
“I’m not selling out Taiwan [to China],” Fan said.
DPP Legislator Kuo Wen-chen (郭玟成) stood on the chairman’s desk and yelled at KMT legislators who had accused him of making a show.
Tsao was forced to dismiss the morning session of the committee meeting because of the uproar. The afternoon session did not review the amendment because of the DPP boycott. Tsao said the committee would resume its review tomorrow.
Fan said the 11 areas proposed for Chinese investment had been drawn up through interdepartmental discussions.
“There was no way that the commission had the authority to unilaterally decide on issues regarding Chinese investment,” Fan said.
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS