The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said yesterday it was ready to go head-to-head with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus and would make every effort to block several bills lined up for this week’s legislative agenda.
A proposed amendment to the Act Governing the Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) is scheduled for review in today’s Internal Administration Committee meeting, as well as a proposed amendment to the University Act (大學法), which will be reviewed at the Education and Culture Committee meeting.
If the proposals pass, universities in Taiwan could begin recruiting graduate students from China.
Voicing the caucus’ opposition to allowing Chinese students to study in Taiwan, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said it was obvious the KMT caucus scheduled the review of the two bills at the same time to restrict DPP legislators from voicing their opinions.
Ker said he had instructed all DPP legislators in the two meetings to make their stance known.
A controversial amendment to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) is scheduled for tomorrow’s legislative plenary session.
The DPP described the proposal as a prelude to martial law, saying that it would hand full power over protests to an authoritarian government.
The amendment proposed by the Cabinet requires protest organizers to notify police of a protest’s time, location and parade route five days in advance and stipulates that violators could be fined up to NT$50,000 (US$1,500). Police would have the right to ban a rally or change its route if they believed it would jeopardize national security, social order or the public interest, the proposed amendment said. The amendment would also give police the right to break up any rally that blocked traffic.
Meanwhile, Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) will brief the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on the third round of cross-strait talks on Wednesday and Thursday.
The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has said there is no need for National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) to attend the meetings because Su is an aide, not a decision-maker.
Ker said that the DPP caucus had asked Su to brief the legislature on Wednesday and Thursday and that if Su failed to appear on the floor, he and the government would be in contempt of the Constitution.
“Chiang skipped a briefing to the legislature before he went to China for the cross-strait talks [late last month] and after the talks Su is refusing to present the government’s stance on cross-strait polices,” Ker said. “The government has totally neglected the legislature’s power to monitor significant cross-strait policies.”
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS