The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it planned to call a second provisional legislative meeting on Aug. 16 to pass the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China.
Caucus secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said KMT lawmakers hoped to hold the provisional session from Aug. 16 to Aug. 31 in a bid to pass the ECFA and a cross-strait copyright protection pact, as well as amend related laws.
During the first provisional session, pan-blue lawmakers agreed on July 9 to refer the ECFA and the copyright deal to a one-month cross-party negotiation period and to allow the pacts to skip a preliminary review, triggering a walkout by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
Under legislative rules, the legislature has to call a vote on a bill after the negotiation period ends.
Lin said the KMT caucus would also include three other proposals on next month’s agenda that would allow Chinese students to enroll in Taiwanese universities and give recognition to Chinese educational credentials. All three proposals are controversial.
However, the caucus will not seek to include a proposed amendment to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) in the agenda because the bill remains “too controversial,” Lin said.
“Local governments have not reached a consensus [as to how to amend the act], so everyone still needs to communicate, but the three bills concerning Chinese students will be included in the agenda because the bills have been stalled for two years,” he said.
Lin said it remains uncertain whether the bill that would reform the National Health Insurance system will be part of agenda.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the KMT caucus had failed to properly prioritize items on the agenda.
The DPP caucus has a different set of priorities for the session because it believes priority should be given to revising the Public Debt Act (公共債務法) and the Act Governing the Allocation for Government Revenues and Expenditures, he said.
More attention should be paid to local government budgets and other financial issues, with the year-end elections around the corner, he said.
“These proposals should be handled first, but instead the KMT wants to put the cart before the horse and first handle the laws concerning Chinese students,” Ker said.
While the DPP caucus will end its boycott for the second provisional legislative session, it would not “passively cooperate” with the KMT caucus on its proposals, Ker said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCENT Y. CHAO
SOLVED: Domestic orders have already overtaken the total sold to China last year, while the Canadian and US representative offices posted messages of support A joint effort by groups and individuals in Taiwan and abroad to prop up sales of pineapples after China announced a ban on imports of the fruit succeeded in just four days, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday. China on Friday announced that it would suspend imports of Taiwanese pineapples starting on Monday, citing biosafety concerns. Following the announcement, the council urged the public to assist farmers by purchasing pineapples, saying it hoped to sell 20,000 tonnes of the fruit domestically and 30,000 tonnes in exports. “Domestic orders have already surpassed the total sold to China last year,” COA Minister
Taiwanese netizens and politicians yesterday mocked a Chinese plan to build a transportation network linking Beijing and Taipei, calling it “science fiction” and “daydreaming.” Their comments were in reaction to the Chinese State Council’s release last week of its “Guidelines on the National Comprehensive Transportation Network Plan,” which include several proposed transportation links, with one map showing a line running from China’s Jingjinji Metropolitan Region (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) across the Taiwan Strait to Taipei. “This is the Chinese leadership daydreaming again of [fulfilling its] fantasy of extending China’s transportation network to Taiwan. I suggest people regard it as science fiction,” Democratic Progressive
‘UNITED FRONT’: Grooming young Taiwanese to become Internet celebrities or hosts is a Chinese tactic to spread propaganda to influence young people, a source said As part of its “united front” tactics, China has been grooming young Taiwanese to become Internet celebrities or Internet program hosts, a source said on condition of anonymity. Over the past year, about 1,000 Taiwanese living in China have participated in training programs and competitions for show hosts held in several cities, including Xiamen, Wenzhou and Hangzhou, the source said on Saturday. “Beijing is taking advantage of the openness of the Internet to spread propaganda about acceptance of China, and about ‘national security,’” the source said, adding that Taiwan’s national security officials are racing to fix the problem. Chinese infiltration of
MAIN CHALLENGE: The US naval commander warned that China would seek to ‘forcibly change’ the balance of power in the region that would likely be permanent The US encourages Taiwan to invest in defense and obtain asymmetric defense capabilities, US Navy Admiral Philip Davidson said on Thursday. Davidson, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, made the remark in a videoconference on defense matters hosted by the American Enterprise Institute think tank. “China is positioned to achieve overmatch” in its military capability by 2026, he said. When Beijing is able to, it would “likely choose to forcibly change” the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region, “and I would say the change in that status quo could be permanent,” he said. “China seeks a new world order, one with Chinese characteristics,
RSS