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.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
COMPLIANCE: The SEF has helped more than 3,900 Chinese verify documents, indicating that most of those affected are willing to cooperate, the MAC said More than 3,100 spouses from China have submitted proof of renunciation of their Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The National Immigration Agency has since April issued notices to spouses to submit proof that they had renounced their Chinese household registration on or before June 30 or their Taiwanese household registration would be revoked. People having difficulties obtaining such a document can request an extension of the deadline or submit a written affidavit in lieu of it. The council said it would hold a briefing at 2:30pm on Friday at the immigration agency’s Taichung office in cooperation with the
The government-funded human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is to be expanded to boys at junior-high school starting in September, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. The Taiwan Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Taiwan Immunization Vision and Strategy, the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan, the Taiwan Head and Neck Society, the Formosa Cancer Foundation and the National Alliance of Presidents of Parents Associations held a joint news conference in Taipei yesterday to raise public awareness about the risks of HPV infection, regardless of gender. Invited to give an address, HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun
RSS