The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday released a draft bill on monitoring cross-strait negotiations and agreements — without a clause that would let an agreement come into effect automatically if the review process stalls.
After meeting for more than two hours, DPP caucus members decided on a proposal for a bill to monitor cross-strait exchanges that would allow the legislature to intervene before, during and after a cross-strait negotiation and the signing of a cross-strait deal.
“After thorough discussions at the caucus meeting, [caucus members] have reached an agreement on a version [of the bill to monitor cross-strait talks and agreements] that would give the legislature the authority to intervene before, during and after negotiations,” DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told a news conference in Taipei following the meeting. “This is a mechanism that we have never had in the past.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Ker said that according to the proposal, the executive branch must report to the legislature prior to any negotiations with a detailed negotiation plan, including national security checks and the effect negotiations could have.
During talks, the proposal would require the government to report to the legislature when the two sides reach an initial consensus or would like to implement major changes to a proposal, with the talks only being able to resume with the legislature’s consent, Ker said.
“The most important part of the proposal is that a draft agreement must undergo a clause-by-clause review by the legislature,” he said.
Following talks, the government should report the outcome to the legislature and the negotiations can be stopped if there are any problems, he added. “In other words, the executive branch must have the authorization of the legislature for any phase of negotiations and before signing an agreement.”
A clause saying the legislature would have up to 90 days to review a draft agreement and 30 days for a signed agreement, with a possible extension of 10 days — but if the legislature fails to approve the deal by the deadline the agreement would automatically take effect — did not appear in the final draft.
The clause was dubbed the “Chang Ching-chung clause,” because former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) had insisted that the cross-strait service trade agreement should automatically take effect according to the Act Governing the Exercise of Legislative Power (立法院職權行使法) after it sat idle at the legislature for three months.
The DPP boycotted a review of the agreement in 2014.
When asked about the clause, DPP caucus secretary-general Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) denied it had been “removed,” because “there was never a Chang Ching-chung clause.”
Caucus members “made different proposals and some of those never made it to the final phase, why would there be any controversy?” Chen said.
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS