The government would be humiliating the Legislative Yuan and disregarding the public if it were to refuse to send the agreements signed in the forthcoming cross-strait negotiations to the legislature for review, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus said yesterday.
“The content of the third Chiang-Chen meeting is highly controversial. If the resolutions from the meeting can avoid legislative review, then the legislature would be humiliated three times,” DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) told a press conference at the Legislative Yuan.
Lee made the remarks in response to a Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) report yesterday, which said that the government had decided that the three agreements scheduled to be signed in next month’s meeting between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) did not need to go through legislative scrutiny.
SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) are scheduled to meet possible early next month to sign three agreements on financial cooperation, regular direct flights and joint efforts to combat crime.
Lee said yesterday the DPP would lodge “a serious protest” if the agreements were to dodge the legislative process. DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) mocked the government for “not even being willing to treat the legislature like a rubber stamp” despite the fact that the agreements could easily coast through the legislature given the fact that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) holds two-thirds of the seats in the legislature.
DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) panned the government for disregarding the will of the people and the Legislative Yuan, adding that the DPP caucus’ effort to present a draft bill stipulating the premises before any signing of cross-strait agreements had been blocked 19 times. She said her proposal to set up a task force within the Legislative Yuan on cross-strait affairs was also blocked.
“This clearly means that the administration doesn’t wish to find out what the people are thinking and it doesn’t want the legislature to keep an eye on the Chiang-Chen meetings,” she said.
When asked for comment, KMT caucus secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) said that in accordance with the Act Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and Peoples of the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), the agreements to be signed in the next round of cross-strait negotiations would only be referred to the legislature for “reference.” Despite this, she said, the KMT caucus would carry out its duty of supervising the government when the agreements are sent to the legislature.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS