The DPP finally reached an agreement yesterday to merge the version of the referendum law drafted by pro-independence Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) with the party's version, which is more conservative.
To settle the internal discrepancies on whether to support Chai's version or the party's, the DPP's Central Standing Committee yesterday ruled to integrate the two into a compromise bill.
The compromise bill is slated to be proposed in today's legislative inter-party negotiation meetings. Chai is expected to take the lead in proposing the revised bill.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
The DPP Legislative Caucus said yesterday the party would take Chai's draft as the main body of the integrated version to dispel the opposition camp's claim that Chai's original bill advocated holding a referendum on controversial unification issues.
The DPP's version of a referendum law, which was only completed on Monday, reflects the party's conservative stance on addressing issues related to Taiwan's sovereignty and insists that a referendum on such issues would only be called if the nation is threatened.
Unlike Chai's original draft, the DPP's bill states that Taiwan is already an independent sovereign country, and excludes the possibility of calling a referendum to decide on independence.
Chai's version has the backing of many DPP pro-independence stalwarts. The legislature is at an impasse on what version of the referendum law would be reviewed during its three-day extraordinary session.
DPP Deputy Secretary General Lee Ying-yuan (
DPP Legislator Lawrence Gao (高志鵬) said that a special task force of seven senior party members would be responsible for the merging of the two referendum bills.
Chai, who has been promoting the legislation of a plebiscite law for the past decade, asserted in his original bill that a plebiscite should be adopted to decide any alteration to the nation's flag, name, territory and other issues concerning sovereignty in addition to other major domestic issues.
But that version ran contrary to President Chen Shui-bian's (
In related news, at the DPP's Central Standing Committee meeting, Chen again pledged to support You Ying-lung's (
The party's campaign team will be headed by Lee Ming-liang (李明亮), chief of the Cabinet's anti-SARS committee, and DPP Legislator Lu Po-chi (盧博基), a prominent politician in Hualien.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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