The DPP legislative caucus yesterday said it wanted the special NT$50 billion budget designed to combat the effects of the SARS outbreak to be passed as early as May 23.
"The party hopes that a quick passage will help the prevention and control measures benefit from financial aid as soon as possible," said Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), the DPP caucus convener.
The extra NT$50 billion was part of the special regulation approved by the Legislative Yuan on May 2.
Ker said that, given the public apprehension over a worsening of the situation, the DPP will propose the speeding up of Premier Yu Shyi-kun's budget briefing at the legislature and finalize a review for the plan at an earlier date.
The briefing will be brought forward as early as May 16, Ker said.
"The passage should be expected at the legislative assembly on May 23, one week earlier than the scheduled agenda," he said.
According to the convener, the budget plan should be discussed at Friday's assembly when the Procedure Committee initiates the plan's legislative procedure tomorrow.
Noting that the speed-up would greatly benefit anti-SARS measures, Ker said that "opposition parties should echo the proposal based upon the legislative consensus that containing the outbreak is the first priority."
The KMT and PFP said they would endorse the proposal.
"The KMT will support all efforts to contain the epidemic since nothing is more important than fighting SARS," Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), said the KMT legislative caucus whip.
Tseng said that the Procedure Committee will lay out the budget plan tomorrow as long as the Executive Yuan can finalize the draft and send it to the legislature this afternoon.
"The party will help the review to be completed at top speed, but we will still carry out the opposition's duty to make sure the money is not used in vain," he said.
Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和), the PFP caucus convener, said: "The PFP will cooperate with every effort to restrain the epidemic," he said. "To fulfill our legislative responsibility, we will cautiously review the budget plan while putting forward the passage quickly."
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS