The summer lull in the partisan fighting over various policy issues will soon come to an end as lawmakers started signing up for the new session yesterday.
The TSU, the tiny ally of the DPP, demanded that Minister of Finance Lee Yung-san (
Meanwhile, the KMT called on the Cabinet to voluntarily take back next year's budget, which it said is full of deceiving figures meant to hide the nation's financial troubles.
PHOTO: LIAO RAY-SHIAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Jumping on the bandwagon, the PFP vowed to give the administration a rough ride when the budgetary review begins later this month.
During a collective registration, legislators from the TSU said they oppose offshore banking unit (OBU) operations proposed by the finance ministry to help local investors conduct business in China.
"Oppose OBU! Down with Lee Yung-san," they chanted.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance indicated it is mulling introducing the OBU mechanism in line with a consensus reached by last year's Economic Development Advisory Conference.
But TSU legislative leader Su Ying-kwei (
"Such a practice, if allowed, would encourage investors to migrate to China and leave their debts in Taiwan," Su said.
Fellow TSU Legislator Liao Pen-yan (
Chen Chien-ming (
Because an executive order would suffice to carry out the OBU plan, the fledgling party threatened to sap the ministry's power through legal revisions, if necessary.
In addition, the 12-member caucus said it would continue pushing for a referendum law that allows the people to have the final say on major policy disputes, political and economic.
The KMT, on the other hand, accused the DPP administration of manipulating the figures when preparing next year's budget and urged the Cabinet to withdraw the plan on its own accord.
According to KMT Legislator Wang Chun-yu (
KMT Legislator Cheng Feng-shih (
"The government must quit playing Santa Claus at the [expense of the] nation's financial health," he said.
Recently, the Cabinet said it would extend the senior-citizen stipend to retired workers with money earmarked for the national pension program.
The KMT, though supportive of expanding the NT$3,000-per-month allowance to more groups, frowns on the proposal to borrow money from the national pension fund.
The PFP said it would play the bad cop during the budgetary review in light of the low efficiency with which the government executed last year's budget. PFP legislative leader Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧) cited official statistics that show various government agencies failed to carry out their spending programs for last year.
She noted that during the fiscal period, the reserve capital for the Ministry of Transportation and Communications was NT$38.5 billion.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Council of Agriculture trailed in second and third with NT$9.6 billion and NT$5.5 billion, respectively, the lawmaker said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
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