Taiwan Quick Take

■ Politics
Arms bill rejected again
The legislature's Procedure Committee yesterday again rejected the proposed US arms procurement bill and failed to confirm President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) list of Control Yuan nominees. However, lawmakers agreed to meet again today to discuss the president's nominations. Lawmakers yesterday lauded a proposal to amend the Constitution to abolish the Control Yuan, which some legislators described as unnecessary. Opposition lawmakers declined to confirm the president's nomination list, saying that some of the nominees are "inappropriate" and that the request procedure was flawed. The Control Yuan has had no members since Feb. 1, when the last of its members' terms in office ended. Since then, investigations into over 3,000 complaints against civil servants have been suspended, and national examinations at which Control Yuan members were supposed to supervise have been affected. Regarding the arms procurement bill, the pan-blue alliance said that they would agree to review the reduced arms procurement bill if the purchase of the eight submarines is earmarked as a special budget, while the remaining arms are bought as part of the regular annual budget.

■ Politics
KMT resolves dues dispute
Putting an end to conflict between party chairmanship competitors Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) decided yesterday that while party members who do not pay their dues will face disciplinary action, only those who have been specifically stripped of their party voting rights will be unable to vote in the July 16 KMT chairmanship election. Additionally, said the KMT's spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) after the decision was made in the KMT's weekly Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday, party members will be able to pay their party dues up until and on the day of the chairmanship election. The announcement yesterday came about as the result of the party's on-going negotiations with both Wang and Ma. Wang had previously supported allowing all party members -- regardless of whether not they had paid their party dues -- to vote in the July election, while Ma said that only those who had paid their dues should be allowed to vote. While the decision leaves open a scenario where party members with unpaid dues could vote in the election, the party does not anticipate many members doing this, Cheng said.

■ Japan
Yu goes sightseeing
Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun departed for Tokyo yesterday on a sightseeing trip. Yu was accompanied by his wife and former vice premier Lin Hsin-i (林信義). Yu kept a low profile and declined to reveal the purpose of his visit prior to his departure. According to his aides, the visit is mainly a vacation and an opportunity for him to meet up with his Japanese friends. He is expected to stay in Japan for a week. With a view to attracting more foreign visitors to the Aichi Expo, Japan passed regulations in February to waive the visa requirements for Taiwanese tourists between March 11 and Sept. 25 this year. During the period, Taiwanese passport holders can enter Japan without visas for sightseeing purposes for a maximum stay of 90 days. Japanese government officials said they would also consider whether to offer Taiwanese citizens permanent visa-free privileges after the Aichi Expo.