The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said yesterday it would oppose the Cabinet’s draft statute to boost public construction, calling the proposal careless and irresponsible.
DPP whip William Lai (賴清德) told a press conference that the Cabinet proposal was just 475 characters long, had just seven articles, lacked details of public construction projects and spending plans and would require a budget of NT$420.3 billion (US$12.6 billion).
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) said the Cabinet included clauses that would allow for the public construction schemes to avoid conflicts with the Budget Law (預算法), which states that funds raised by loans must be used in capital investments, and the Public Debt Act (公共債務法), which places a ceiling on government debt, as well as the Law Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法), which regulates the financial obligations of the central and local governments.
But while the proposal would allow the government to avoid any restrictions or supervision in funding the construction, it does not say where the money will go or what the spending will achieve, Yeh said.
“The draft is like the government giving legislators a blank check and asking them to sign it with the public picking up the tab,” Yeh said, adding that the DPP caucus would not accept it.
Lai said the caucus was also opposed to allowing the consumer vouchers bill to skip a preliminary review. The DPP wants a thorough review of the bill, he said.
DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said a Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics report showed the jobless rate rose for the fourth straight month last month to a five-year high of 4.27 percent. The DPP said the government should review its policies, he said.
Helping people find jobs should be the priority, not bolstering the stock market, Cheng 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
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
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