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
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
The US Department of State on Monday reaffirmed that US policy on Taiwan remains unchanged, following US President Donald Trump’s use of the term “unification” while commenting on recent trade talks with China. Speaking at a wide-ranging press conference, Trump described what he viewed as progress in trade negotiations with China held in Geneva, Switzerland, over the weekend. “They’ve agreed to open China — fully open China, and I think it’s going to be fantastic for China. I think it’s going to be fantastic for us,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to be great for unification and peace.” Trump’s use of the
RSS