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.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
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