The three agreements Taiwan signed with China in April will automatically go into effect later this month despite Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opposition.
The Internal Administration Committee and four other legislative committees yesterday held a joint meeting to review the three agreements on financial cooperation, expansion of air links and joint efforts to combat crime and boost judicial cooperation.
The executive branch had originally asked the legislature to ratify the three agreements, but the legislature decided to review them at the request of the DPP caucus.
Yesterday's marathon review session did not produce any results because of a technical boycott by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). The DPP could not launch a vote on the three agreements given its numerical disadvantage.
One-third of the committee members, or 24, must be present to form a quorum. The DPP has only 17. The KMT has 53, but only three were present when the DPP filed a request for a vote.
The DPP filed eight motions to change the agreements and requested the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) place the changes on the agenda of the upcoming cross-strait talks scheduled for the second half of the year.
One of the motions stipulate that the three agreements cannot take effect until all necessary legal procedures have been completed.
KMT Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠), chairman of the Internal Administration Committee, ruled that the committees could not deal with the motions because of a lack of quorum, saying they would tackle them another time.
The catch is the legislature will begin its summer recess on Tuesday. The three agreements, signed on April 26, will take effect 60 days after signing.
The three agreements signed last November also automatically went into effect 40 days after they were signed.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) engaged in a shouting match with MAC Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) when Chiu asked Lai whether the three agreements were written in traditional Chinese or simplified Chinese and whether she would sign future agreements in simplified Chinese if China or Ma wanted this.
Lai irked Chiu when Lai dismissed it as a non-issue.
Visibly upset by Lai's answer that cross-strait negotiations were conducted under the principle of equality and dignity, Chiu pounded on the table and called Lai “shameful” and “unqualified” to talk about dignity because she did not have any.
KMT Legislator Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) cast doubt on the fast pace of cross-strait negotiations, saying it has posed a serious problem.
“It is obvious that Taiwan's politics has been kidnapped by China's economy,” he said.
“I am worried that our military and national security have been compromised to an extent that it's almost as if we have surrendered,” he said.
Wu urged the government to offer a clear account of the positive and negative effects of the financial cooperation with Beijing, saying Taiwan's economy would be doomed if only big businesses, not the general public, benefit from the agreements.
DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) said the three agreements must obtain the consent of the legislature before they go into effect.
Citing the national insurance program as an example, Lai said the government did not need legislative approval to increase the premium if the adjustment was less than 6 percent. The legislature, however, requested a review and the government complied.
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