As extra legislative sessions loom, so do disagreements on how many sittings and when. However, the caucuses have agreed to let Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) host interparty negotiations to schedule the extra sittings.
The Executive Yuan met the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus two days ago and decided to seek an extra sitting late next month to handle the proposed constitutional amendment on legislative downsizing, the budget plan for the 10 key infrastructure projects and other important bills.
But the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus proposed yesterday to hold two extra sittings to handle the constitutional amendment bill next month and drafts related to the March 19 assassination attempt in August.
"The constitutional amendment bill will finish its four-month negotiation period on July 19, and we propose to hold a sitting then to deal with the bill," said the KMT caucus whip, Liao Feng-te (廖風德).
"Meanwhile, the draft for the March 19 shooting special committee and the statute for establishment of a document-reviewing committee on the initiation of the national security mechanism after the March 19 incident will be discussed at the sitting on August 12, and we will consider whether to demand an additional sitting then," Liao said.
"But as to when the extra sittings will be held and what will be discussed, we will wait for Wang Jin-pyng's return [from the US] and have him host interparty negotiations," Liao said.
The DPP caucus director-general, Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), also agreed that the two caucuses should wait for Wang's return to schedule the special sessions.
"The DPP caucus does not insist on a particular format of the extra sittings.
"We just hope to hold extra sittings to pass bills needed by the public as soon as possible," Tsai said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS