One of the unwritten truths of Taiwan politics is that the Legislative Yuan is the place where big interests are played out; and the Finance Committee is the center of this wheeling and dealing. This fact was underlined by accusation made against members of the committee yesterday.
With such a reputation, it should come as no surprise that four lawmakers -- including the KMT's Lo Ming-tsai (
Looking back to the beginning of the current session last September, both KMT and DPP political heavyweights managed to paralyze legislative procedures for over a month, as they fought over a single contested seat on the powerful committee, where finance-related laws are formulated, debated and passed.
The deadlock resulted from the fact that too many legislators sought seats on the committee -- 62 lawmakers registered for 21 available seats. As a result, candidates for the committee were forced to draw lots.
The reason behind the Finance Committee's popularity is evident for critics, who say it serves the personal interests of its own members, many of whom are business figures. But the critics also point out that it is a strong counteractive force against Taiwan's democratic development.
One anonymous finance ministry official said that members of the Finance Committee wield a powerful weapon in that if state-run banks, or the finance ministry decline to act according to their requests, they can cut their budgets in return.
Even more disturbing, the official said, was that committee members could demand that banks pour money in their companies, or ask the banks to lend to them at low interest rates.
DPP legislative caucus leader Chen Chi-mai (
Chen added that during this session there are several bills in the works that could have huge potential for conflict-of-interest among lawmakers, including the so-called "trust law," amendments to the gambling article in the Welfare Lottery Law, the Insurance Law and the Land Tax Law.
Critics said the passage of such bills would inevitably help redistribute wealth. Even though independent legislator Lo Fu-chu (
Both Los yesterday denied media reports claiming they have been putting undue pressure on banks to invest in venture capital companies.
Nevertheless, they have already created a precedent for the Legislative Yuan, being the first father-son partnership on the Finance Committee.
On several occasions, Lo Fu-chu has coached his son on the rules of procedure while chairing the Finance Committee.
Reviewing the list of Finance Committee members , most of the KMT legislators actually own or run finance-related business themselves -- figures such as Gary Wang (
Her Jyh-huei (
Her is currently the vice president of Shin Shin Co Ltd, (欣欣大眾), while his wife, Wang Su-yun (王素筠) a former legislator herself, now serves as the president of Chia Hsun Livestock Co Ltd (嘉畜), another Hualon-associated firm.
With such a line-up, critics say it is hardly surprising that the legislature's Finance Committee has been dubbed a "playground for conglomerates."
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS