Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday promised full support for 65 bills and the central government’s fiscal budget for next year as proposed by the Executive Yuan.
During a visit by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄) and Cabinet Secretary-General Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川) to the legislature, Wang said all of the Cabinet’s proposals were of equal importance.
However, he urged the Executive Yuan to propose an order of priority for the bills and pledged to help the proposals clear the legislative floor.
“The budget requests we have proposed for this legislative session are in line with our new policies,” Liu said.
CLOSER LOOK
Six of the bills proposed by the Cabinet aim to help economically disadvantaged families, while seven of the proposals address energy and environmental issues, Liu said.
A total of 41 bills are related to improving the nation’s competitiveness and six are related to safeguarding human rights, he said.
Liu also told Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世), who was present during the officials’ visit, that he hoped the KMT caucus would unfreeze NT$36.6 billion (US$1.1 billion) in budget requests for the current fiscal year.
CAUCUS PRIORITIES
Lin said the caucus still needed to discuss the priority of the Cabinet’s bills at a meeting today, adding that the caucus might put as many as 50 proposals on its priority list.
The legislature’s fall session begins tomorrow.
It is customary for the legislature to spend most of the session reviewing annual government budget requests as the Budget Law (預算法) stipulates that the central government’s fiscal budget requests must be passed at least one month before the end of the fiscal year.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS