Citing doubts about the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) sincerity in negotiating on a joint nomination of candidates for the legislative elections, the People First Party (PFP) yesterday again threatened to withdraw its cooperation with the KMT on blocking a legislative amendment that could scupper former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (
"Many of our caucus members are very unhappy with the KMT about the legislative nomination issue. We might just take a step back and watch what happens in [today's] Procedure Committee meeting," PFP legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (
Today's weekly Procedure Committee meeting will again deliberate over whether to put an amendment to the President and Vice President Election and Recall Law (
The amendment, introduced by the Democratic Progressive Party, proposes that anyone found guilty of corruption in an initial trial be barred from running for the presidency or vice presidency. Ma, who has been charged with embezzlement, could lose his shot at the presidency if the bill is promulgated.
PFP Legislator Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) said that the party would not side with the KMT on the amendment unless the KMT honors its commitment to the two-party agreement outlining the principles for a joint nomination system.
"According to the agreement, at least seven incumbent PFP lawmakers should be nominated as joint candidates. The KMT has to guarantee this," Feng said.
The amendment was put on the agenda for the first time on April 17 after four PFP lawmakers and a Non-Partisan Solidarity Union lawmaker on the committee who could have helped the KMT vote down the pan-green camp were absent from the meeting.
But on April 20, six hours after the agreement was signed following an overnight negotiation session, the PFP helped the KMT pass a vote adjourning the plenary session, as a result of which the amendment was sent back to the Procedure Committee.
"We agreed during the night's talks that the two parties have two weeks to discuss joint nominations, but the KMT does not seem committed to the agreement," Fu said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
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Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard