The legislature will quickly pass a package of anti-corruption or “sunshine” bills designed to ensure clean politics when its new session begins this week, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday.
Wang said he believed the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) planned to push the bills when the legislative session opens on Friday.
“As long as the KMT proposes the draft bills, the legislature will follow the legislative procedures in reviewing the bills,” Wang said.
“It would not take long to complete the legislation of the bills,” he said.
Critics have blasted the KMT-dominated legislature for failing to pass the sunshine bills in previous sessions.
Wang made the remarks earlier yesterday at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport prior to his departure for Japan, where he will give a speech at a symposium on relations between the US, Japan and Taiwan at the invitation of the Okazaki Institute in Tokyo.
During his trip, Wang will meet former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. Wang is returning to Taiwan today to prepare for the coming legislative session.
Wang visited Japan early last month as part of the government’s efforts to cement ties with Japan simultaneously with its recent moves to improve relations with China.
During the visit last month, Wang met Japanese lawmaker Taro Aso, a former foreign minister who is widely expected to win the race to become Japanese prime minister next Monday.
Wang will not meet Aso during this trip as Aso is busy with the election, senior legislative sources said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
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