In reaction to a series of recent misdemeanors by lawmakers — including physical and verbal clashes that occurred on Wednesday — lobby group Citizens Congress Watch (CCW) yesterday called on the legislature to set up a Gender Equality Committee and strengthen the role of the Disciplinary Committee.
“The incident yesterday [Wednesday], in which Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] Legislator Lee Ching-hua [李慶華] verbally abused Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Yi-ying [邱議瑩] that resulted in Chiu slapping him, was not an isolated incident,” CCW executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said as the group demonstrated outside the legislature. “It was one of what we consider six major cases of legislators overstepping their bounds since this legislature was inaugurated [in February last year].”
The other incidents included one in which KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) said that the birth rate was too high among lower class people and that their children would only end up homeless. In another, KMT Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰) said that the only way to make Chiu happy was to get her a husband.
PHOTO: CNA
“I’m very disappointed with the lawmakers we elected — they need to work harder not only at their jobs, but also to watch what they say and improve their sense of gender equality,” said Kao Ru-ping (高如萍), deputy secretary-general of the National Association for the Promotion of Community Universities.
To keep lawmakers from misbehaving, CCW chairman Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華) suggested that the legislature create a Gender Equality Committee, strengthen the role of the Disciplinary Committee and reconsider lawmakers’ immunity from legal action over what they say in legislative sessions.
“The Disciplinary Committee is often in the hands of the majority party — the rules should be revised so that no party can hold more than 50 percent of the seats on the committee so that it can operate more fairly,” Ku said. “There were reasons at the time when lawmakers were granted immunity for what they say during legislative meetings — I think it’s already time to reconsider the application of that immunity.”
In related news, Chiu yesterday continued to lambaste the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for its “verbal violence” following Wednesday’s altercation.
“The KMT, along with some pro-unification media, are conducting a massive smear campaign to make me look like the ‘Queen Bee of the Mafia,’ but anyone that knows me knows I am not that kind of person,” she said.
Chiu said sometimes verbal abuse could cause more damage than physical assault.
She also panned accusations from the KMT that she used her beauty to advance her political career.
“Do I have a choice what kind of face I have?” she said, adding the matter was no longer an issue in her opinion, but she would reserve the right to pursue legal action.
Additional reporting by Jenny W. Hsu
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS