Lawmakers yesterday amended the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to include legislative oversight and referendums before the government can sign a political agreement with China.
The amended act includes a new Article 5-3, which stipulates that the Executive Yuan must submit a signing plan and a political impact assessment report to the Legislative Yuan at least 90 days before it is scheduled to begin negotiations with the Chinese government.
The plan must obtain the approval of three-quarters of lawmakers in a legislative meeting attended by at least three-quarters of all lawmakers, the amendment says.
Photo: CNA
A political agreement, as defined by the amendment, is one that would have a major constitutional or political effect.
The amendment stipulates that the agency in charge of signing an agreement must carry out negotiations according to the plan and give timely reports to the legislature, which may summon the agency for a briefing.
The Executive Yuan could terminate the negotiations should they prove unfeasible, or the Legislative Yuan could veto them if at least half of lawmakers vote to do so, it says.
If the two sides of the Taiwan Strait work out a draft agreement, the Executive Yuan should deliver it to the president within 15 days, and publish the draft in its entirety within 15 days of the president signing off on a potential deal, the amendment says.
Legislative committees must then hold a public hearing to gather public opinions about the possible political implications of the draft before sending it to a plenary session for review, it says.
The draft agreement would then need to gain the backing of at least 75 percent of lawmakers during a plenary session with at least 75 percent attendance, the amendment says.
It would then be required to pass a national referendum by garnering the votes of at least half of all eligible voters, it says.
If the referendum is passed, the two sides may formally sign an agreement, which would take effect after it is signed by the president, the amendment says.
The nation’s sovereignty and statehood, or proposals to alter or abrogate the nation’s free, democratic and constitutional system, must not be a subject of cross-strait negotiations, it says.
Any political agreement that contravenes the article would be annulled, it says.
The amendment was sponsored by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus, which revised a version originally submitted by the Cabinet to make it clearer.
DPP caucus director-general Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said the way in which the act was previously written would allow the Executive Yuan to sign a political agreement with China of its own accord and “notify” the legislature later, which was a “shortcut” that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and other proponents of a peace agreement with China — “including all KMT presidential hopefuls” — sought to exploit.
DPP Legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said that some mayors and commissioners have advocated signing a peace agreement with China after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in a speech on Jan. 2 proposed imposing a “one country, two systems” framework on Taiwan and said that China would not renounce the use of force to annex Taiwan.
“The amendment reflects the public opinion that cross-strait relations are not dictated by Mr Xi on the other side of the Strait, but are decided by all 23 million Taiwanese,” she said.
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