The first policy negotiations between the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan on Monday night resulted in a decision to abolish the Red Cross Society Act of the Republic of China (中華民國紅十字會法), the Executive Yuan said.
The New Power Party (NPP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in February proposed abolishing the act, saying that the society had special legal status and was not subject to the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法) and the Charity Donations Act (公益勸募條例), adding that the abolishment of the act would advance the implementation of “transitional justice.”
While the NPP on May 3 moved to have the abolishment measure sent directly to a second reading, bypassing all discussion in committees, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) objected, resulting in yesterday’s cross-caucus negotiation.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
However, the negotiations failed to reach a consensus, with the legislature to vote on the annulment of the act in early July at the latest, according to legislative procedures.
In response to protests from the Red Cross Society since the annulment was first proposed, Executive Yuan spokesperson Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said the society misunderstood the decision.
“The society’s establishment has its historical background and necessity, and we do not doubt it has contributed positively to the nation and to the public, but there also exist certain flaws in how the society functions, including the use of its charity funds and the election of its chairperson,” Tung said.
Negotiations saw the Executive Yuan’s support for the legislature’s motion to abolish the act so the society becomes more transparent and healthy in its organization, thus being of greater benefit to the public, Tung said.
Once the abolishment measure is passed, the central government would no longer have to assign an official to sit on the society’s board, Tung said, adding that the organization would be regulated in accordance with the Civil Associations Act.
As for the groups’s fundraising drives, Tung said that if the abolishment motion is ratified, the society’s fundraising would have to follow regulations according to the Charity Donations Act.
Society chairperson Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) said that the perceived flaws in how the group functions should have been rectified via investigation or legal action rather than by abolishing the act, adding that the decision has impinged on the reputation of a humanitarian organization.
Additional reporting by Yang Mien-chieh
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
RSS