Political leaders across party lines yesterday agreed to push for quick implementation of the proposals agreed to at last month's Economic Development Advisory Conference. They also want to promote further inter-party cooperation to help resolve Taiwan's economic problems.
The agreement was reached at a summit of party leaders and groups with deputies in the legislature. The summit was intended as the closing event for inter-party negotiations initiated by the KMT, the majority party in the legislature.
Those attending included KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"Today we've opened a door to inter-party cooperation. Under this atmosphere, we hope that we can further conduct issue-based cooperation to promote national prosperity and stability and the well-being of the people," Lien said.
Under the agreement, the political parties and groups will work to pass 34 pieces of priority legislation in the Legislative Yuan before the legislature is adjourned on Nov. 1 in preparation for the legislative elections.
The 34 items include 20 that are designed to implement the resolutions of the economic conference. The other 14 are aimed at preparing for Taiwan's expected accession to the WTO at the end of the year.
Also, the legislative caucuses of the various parties will set up a monitoring panel to ensure that the executive branch implements the economic conference's proposals in accordance with its targets.
In addition to the substantive measures to improve the economy, the political leaders concurred that other "non-economic factors" that are hampering economic development should be eliminated.
"The parties concerned will continue to push for inter-party amity and cooperation, abide by the constitutional system and build up steady relations between the executive and legislative branches to pursue a long-lasting peace for the country," the agreement stated.
With the prerequisite that Taiwan's national security is protected, the political leaders urged the government to negotiate with China as soon as possible on bilateral issues that are expected to arise after Taiwan's admission into the WTO.
"The authorities on both sides should resolve their differences and resume the cross-strait dialogue carried out by their respective agencies as soon as possible on the basis of the achievement of the 1992 meeting and a subsequent agreement reached in the Koo-Wang meeting of 1993," the agreement said.
The agreement, as soon as it was released, was presented to Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chang promised that the Executive Yuan would implement the consensus of the Economic Development Advisory Conference comprehensively.
"Pursuing reconciliation between the ruling and opposition parties and the ideal of inter-party cooperation, the Executive Yuan will work hand in hand with the Legislative Yuan to work for the economy," Chang said.
While the Executive Yuan is accelerating the pace of legislative drafting so that bills can be sent to the legislature for review as soon as possible, the Council for Economic Planning and Development has been charged with the task of managing and evaluating the progress of implementation, Chang said.
Wang also said that the legislature would do its part, in line with the agreement reached at yesterday's political summit.
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
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘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