Some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday said they would not attend a planned party debate on cross-strait policies in protest at the Cabinet's recent announcement on its "active management, effective opening" economic policy.
The DPP plans to hold a debate on China policy next weekend. The legislators said that it would be meaningless to take part in the debate given that the administration has already finalized its policies.
On Wednesday, the Executive Yuan announced a plan to adopt a more rigorous approach in its implementation of the "active management, effective opening" policy. Beginning on June 30, China-bound investment projects exceeding US$20 million or involving sensitive technology will be subject to a tougher approval procedure.
DPP Legislator Julian Kuo (
"The Cabinet has negated the DPP's democratic mechanism and I refuse to endorse its decision," Kuo said. "To show my strong opposition, I will quit the DPP's debate on China policy that I had already signed up for."
Kuo said Premier Su Tseng-chang (
"In view of this situation, I think it is meaningless to go on with the debate," he added.
DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (
Lee said the Executive Yuan should postpone its adoption of the new China investment policy until the DPP reaches a conclusion, and then the Presidential Office, Executive Yuan and legislative caucus come to an agreement on it.
"Otherwise it will be redundant for us to debate this topic," Lee said.
DPP caucus whip Chen Chin-jun (
DPP spokesman Tsai Huang-liang (
"It is just as if a baseball game is about to begin, yet the players call it quits," Tsai Huang-liang said.
But Lo Cheng-fang (羅正方), deputy executive of the DPP's Policy Development Committee -- who is responsible for setting the agenda for the debate -- said yesterday the party is communicating with the disgruntled lawmakers and the debate would not be canceled.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS