The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus said yesterday that it would not sign an agreement establishing a committee to review the establishment of the national security mechanism during the election, unless other parties agreed to create a committee to review the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) assets.
Two days ago, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), KMT and People First Party (PFP) caucuses agreed to form a committee to review the documents concerning the national security mechanism.
The committee would be required to produce a report within one month.
The TSU was not present at these inter-party negotiations and has since refused to sign the agreement.
TSU caucus whip Chen Chien-ming (
"The KMT has filed a lawsuit to request that the court nullify the election and investigate the national security mechanism, but they are still asking to form a committee to deal with the mechanism. This is nonsense," Chen said.
"Furthermore, they are trying to abuse justice, and that's shameless. They intend to violate the principles of the justice system and the Control Yuan, and that's lawless," Chen said.
"We propose the simultaneous creation of a committee to review the documents on the KMT's party assets, otherwise we won't agree to a committee focusing on the national security mechanism," said TSU legislator Lo Chih-ming (
In related news, independent legislator Chu Hsing-yu's (
Chu's proposal for the tentative Statute on Financial Penalty Charges (
The proposal can be put to the vote on Tuesday, by which time it will have been under negotiation for four months. According to legislative procedure, a bill can be put to the vote after it has been discussed for four months in inter-party negotiations.
The Alliance of Independent Lawmakers yesterday afternoon motioned for all bills to go through further negotiations instead of passing.
The amendment to the Presidential Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法) was also held back for further discussion.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National