The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) once again dominated the elections for legislative committee heads yesterday, taking 14 out of the 16 seats on the eight standing committees.
But the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) managed to grab two seats on two committees by drawing lots with KMT lawmakers.
The DPP had difficulty securing more than one seat in the past two elections of the seventh legislature as it only has 27 places among the legislature’s 117 seats.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) and KMT Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) will head the Internal Administration Committee for the fall legislative session.
Chiu was able to join the draw against Chang and KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) after KMT Legislator Justin Huang (黃健庭) “accidentally” voted for himself rather than for Wu as previously arranged by the KMT caucus.
Chiu said she was surprised to win the seat, adding that this was an opportunity for the DPP to handle cross-strait affairs and post-Typhoon Morakot reconstruction in an appropriate manner.
DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) and KMT Legislator Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) will lead the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee after KMT Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), who won the same number of votes as Chen and Ho, yielded to Ho.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said he was surprised the DPP took two seats because the caucus had finalized the candidates for committee heads after coordination among KMT legislators.
The DPP had urged the KMT to yield four seats to the DPP, but the KMT declined, saying the KMT needed to handle three major budget proposals and a proposed amendment related to government reorganization during this session.
KMT legislators Justin Chou (周守訓) and Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) will be responsible for arranging the agenda for the Foreign and National Defense Committee while KMT lawmakers Lee Fu-hsing (李復興) and Shyu Jong-shyoung (徐中雄) will be in charge of the Economics Committee.
The Finance Committee will be headed by KMT legislators Alex Fai (費鴻泰) and Lin Te-fu (林德福), while the Education and Culture Committee will be led by KMT legislators Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and Kuo Su-chun (郭素春).
The seats of the heads of the Transportation Committee went to KMT legislators Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌) and Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) while KMT legislators Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) and Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) won the seats for the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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