Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday gave mixed reviews to a call by party headquarters to promote the government’s proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China by holding conferences at the local level.
KMT Legislator Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和) told reporters that although he had received a letter from party headquarters urging the party’s lawmakers to help promote the proposed pact, he believed it would be better for the party to garner public support for the agreement in a more subtle manner.
“Holding conferences deliberately [to promote an ECFA] will never be as effective as influencing public opinion imperceptibly,” Chung told reporters at the legislature.
KMT Legislator Shyu Jong-shyoung (徐中雄) said it would be difficult for legislators to promote an ECFA because many do not know enough about it.
The KMT caucus recently received a letter from KMT headquarters calling on lawmakers to explain and promote the ECFA to the general public.
Party headquarters urged legislators to hold sessions for a minimum of 200 people each in their own electoral districts next month while the party will offer a NT$10,000 subsidy for each session.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) quoted an anonymous pan-blue politician yesterday as saying that many KMT legislators from southern Taiwan had reservations about helping the party promote the ECFA because signing the agreement could deal a blow to traditional industries.
But KMT Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰) said he had held a number of ECFA-related sessions, adding that KMT lawmakers could directly help answer the public’s questions about the ECFA during the sessions.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), who also previously helped at several sessions, said he supported the party’s call, adding this would increase public understanding of the agreement.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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