Cashing in on its numerical advantage, the legislature's pan-blue-dominated Procedure Committee yesterday placed the controversial "cross-strait peace advancement" bill on the legislative agenda as the first bill for discussion at next Tuesday's plenary session.
The bill, which passed the committee in an 18-14 vote, would create a special committee to handle cross-strait affairs that would assume the current functions of the Mainland Affairs Council and Straits Exchange Foundation.
Pan-green critics object to the bill because it would enshrine the "one China" concept into law, and usurp the executive branch's constitutional power over cross-strait policymaking.
The Procedure Committee's move yesterday set the stage for another emotional showdown in the legislature on Tuesday.
TSU caucus whip David Huang (
Making the bill law would not be in the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) interest, Huang argued, because the public would conclude that the People First Party is leading the KMT by the nose and getting it to cooperate with China's Communist Party to oppose pro-independence forces.
Meanwhile, the stymied arms procurement bill failed to pass the committee for the 35th time, despite Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Winston Dang's (
The committee also rejected the DPP's proposal to invite the president to brief the legislature on the arms procurement plan, and nixed three different versions of a party assets bill presented by the DPP, Taiwan Solidarity Union and Executive Yuan -- each designed to strip the KMT's of its ill-gotten gains.
The pan-blue-controlled committee also rejected a bill proposed by the Executive Yuan to establish a "clean government bureau" under the Ministry of Justice, saying that it is redundant because there is already an Investigation Bureau under the ministry.
In one rare example of cross-party harmony, the committee passed a joint resolution made by all caucuses supporting the president's selection of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
That cross-party resolution comes despite the fierce opposition to Wang's visit from China, as well as resistance from South Korea, the host country for the summit.
KMT Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan (
Tseng said that it was useless to condemn the premier now, as the truth of the matter is still gradually coming to light.
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
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai