The controversial cross-strait service trade agreement was sent to the Legislative Yuan’s plenary session yesterday without a single minute of deliberation in a joint committee review meeting that was marred by physical and verbal confrontations among pan-blue and pan-green camp lawmakers as both sides accused each other of lacking “democratic maturity.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers had occupied the meeting room’s podium since noon yesterday and prevented Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) from presiding over the meeting, which was called off after three hours without actually commencing.
“Chang had no choice but to announce the conclusion of the meeting and send the pact to the plenary, as the legislative committee had failed to screen the agreement within the required time of three months,” KMT caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) told a press conference after the meeting.
Photo: CNA
As the screening of the pact would be deemed complete after one day, the scheduled three-day review will not be held tomorrow and on Thursday, Lin said.
Lawmakers from both sides spent the time allotted to the meeting chanting slogans and taking verbal jabs at each other.
DPP lawmakers, led by Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉), and Chang briefly got into a physical confrontation.
Chang was reluctant to make the decision to send the pact to the plenary session because the DPP had been blocking the proceeding, but the decision was legal, Lin said, adding that Chang was tackled to the ground by DPP lawmakers when he was trying to convene the meeting.
The DPP refused to acknowledge the legality of the KMT’s unilateral decision, as Chang did not make his announcement on the podium and no one heard what he said, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said at a separate news conference.
In response to the KMT’s violation of a previously reached inter-party consensus that the deal must be reviewed clause-by-clause in the Legislative Yuan, DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the DPP caucus would boycott the plenary session today, adding that the DPP would not rule out other measures to “paralyze” the legislature.
Even if the agreement is successfully sent to the plenary session for its second reading, the opposition lawmakers have the right to review it line-by-line as per previous consensus, Chen said.
Yesterday marked the third day that the joint committee review made no progress following a two-day review session convened by Chen Chi-mai last week.
The KMT caucus, which said the DPP’s boycott yesterday was “unacceptable,” disrupted the meeting last week.
Because the DPP did not recognize the legality of yesterday’s meeting, Chen said he would try to convene another review meeting next week.
The KMT’s reasoning for sending the pact to the plenary was incorrect, Chen said, as current regulations only stipulated that executive orders that fail to complete a committee review within three months of the plenary session be assigned to the committee.
“The agreement is not an executive order,” Chen said.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) issued press releases condemning the KMT’s handling of the meeting, with Su saying that the party would not accept the KMT’s breach of consensus.
Tsai said the KMT has put the nation’s democratic system in jeopardy and called on Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he