The special bill on the five-year, NT$500 billion (US$14.8 billion) "10 New Construction Projects," the anti-terrorism act (
The procedural committee also rejected amendments to the Referendum Law (
The legislature's procedural committee held its last meeting yesterday to carve out the agenda for the last plenary session on Tuesday. The legislature's winter recess is due to start on Jan. 13.
Anticipating that the annual spending plan might not be approved before the end of the current session, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"Due to time restraints we will try to reach a consensus during the cross-party negotiations before Friday's plenary session," Wang said.
High on the agenda of Tuesday's plenary session is a joint proposition by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) aimed at allaying the international community's concerns about President Chen Shui-bian's (
Also to be discussed in Tuesday's plenary session are the political donations bill (
Cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
"It's almost certain that the five-year special plan and special budget will not clear the legislature before the presidential election on March 30, because the legislature will soon go into recess again after it reconvenes on Feb. 24," Lin said.
The next legislative recess will start on Feb. 25 and end on March 19 to let lawmakers participate in the presidential campaign activities of their parties.
Vowing to appeal to public support for the five-year plan, Lin berated the opposition bloc for being inconsistent in their words and actions. He accused KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) of coercing pan-blue lawmakers to boycott the plan.
"Everything they do has a political motivation," Lin said. "While they've introduced a similar but bigger four-year, NT$2 trillion plan, they technically boycott the passage of the five-year, NT$500 billion plan we proposed."
Without the five-year plan, which is expected to create 64,000 jobs per year, the nation's economic growth rate might not reach the goal of 5 percent, Lin said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost