The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-controlled legislature yesterday blocked an opposition-sponsored bill calling for a referendum on a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
The bill — which would also have created a legislative ECFA monitoring team — was rejected by the Procedure Committee, marking the sixth time the proposal has been blocked.
Lawmakers voted along party lines, with 10 KMT lawmakers voting against including the bill on Friday's legislative schedule and three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers voting in support.
Prior to the vote, the DPP caucus had expressed optimism that KMT legislators would support the bill after Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said the government wasn’t opposed to holding a referendum on the proposed trade pact.
A petition for a referendum by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) party is expected to make its way to the Executive Yuan's Referendum Review Committee by the end of the week. It is unclear whether the committee will accept the TSU proposal after rejecting a similar proposal by the DPP late last year.
However, under Article 2 of the Referendum Act (公投法), the legislature can sidestep the review committee and submit government policy measures to the Central Election Commission for a referendum with a majority vote.
Criticizing the DPP's position, KMT lawmakers said that the proposed monitoring team could contravene legislative procedure, adding that referendums should be left to civic organizations rather than political parties.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said that the KMT caucus wasn’t against an ECFA referendum but had concerns that politicians would use the referendum for political purposes.
Some DPP lawmakers said the establishment of an ECFA monitoring team has been privately supported by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平). However, they said that yesterday’s vote showed the limited influence the speaker has on individual KMT lawmakers.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said that the vote indicated that KMT officials “operated on different wavelengths,” and criticized Wu for failing to back up his comments.
“The KMT is clearly unable to follow up on its earlier promises to stop blocking the referendum,” she said. “They owe the public an explanation.”
Chiu added that the Procedure Committee did not reflect public opinion.
Pan-blue lawmakers led by the KMT hold a majority of the seats in the 113 member legislature. KMT lawmakers head all eight of the legislative committees and its majority in the Procedure Committee has led to criticism that bills proposed by the opposition have been stifled.
Public concerns over the committee mounted between 2005 and 2006 after the KMT-controlled Procedure Committee struck down a proposal for a large US arms deal 64 times.
“It's unacceptable that the Procedure Committee has kept our ECFA bill from being openly debated in a full legislative meeting,” Chiu said.
DPP caucus whip Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) called the vote “disappointing” but added that party lawmakers could continue to try for a seventh time.
Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday defended the government's plan to sign an ECFA, and said as the nation's capital city and business hub, Taipei City would benefit from it.
Defending President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) policy, Hau said the ECFA debate between Ma and DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Sunday would be a debate on whether Taiwan should open its market to the world or close its doors on more opportunities.
“Taipei City would benefit from the lower tariffs and the opening of China’s market after we sign an ECFA [with China] with little negative impact. Facing global competition, Taipei will be prepared for various works after the ECFA is signed with an open mind,” Hau said yesterday at Taipei City Hall.
The Ma administration’s plan to sign an ECFA with China, slated for sometime in June, has been opposed by the DPP. The opposition camp has accused the government of lacking transparency in negotiating an ECFA with China, and challenged the government over the negative impact an ECFA might have for traditional industry and the local labor market.
Hau yesterday declined to say whether he supported the DPP's proposal to hold a referendum on an ECFA, while stressing the city government's determination to protect local workers that may be affected by the economic pact.
Statistics from Taipei City's Department of Economic Development say an ECFA would bring NT$70 billion (US$2.2 billion) profit to the manufacturing industry in Taipei and create more job opportunities in the service and retail industries.
The department said that in Taipei City, a total of 95 companies in traditional industries, including towel, shoe and bedding manufacturers, will receive subsidies or other administrative assistance from the city government after an ECFA is signed.
Hau said the city government will also protect the rights of consumers by enhancing food and product safety inspections, while ensuring that no products that violate intellectual property rights would enter the city.
Also See: Ex-MAC official calls for ECFA consensus
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
RSS