The Executive Yuan yesterday denied that pressure from vested interests forced it to “suspend” a planned amendment to the Regulations Governing the Building of Agricultural Houses on Agricultural Land (農業用地興建農舍辦法) that would prohibit non-farmers from purchasing or selling farmland.
“The Executive Yuan has not deviated from its principles of ‘agricultural land solely for agricultural use,’” Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun said (孫立群).
Sun made the remarks in response to rumors that the government has suspended the planned amendment — that the Council of Agriculture had said would be completed by this month — with an eye on the upcoming elections.
“It has nothing to do with the elections. As you can see, the proposal has stirred up different opinions from all sides, including legislators, farmers and advocacy groups, and the Executive Yuan needs more time to process their concerns, so although council Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) had said the amendment would be passed by the end of June, that now looks unlikely,” Sun said. “The amendment has definitely not been suspended or delayed; it is simply at the process stage.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Chao-ming (陳超明), who represents Miaoli County, issued a press release on Monday saying that following his continuous petitions, “Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) has decided to put off the amendment to the act in respect of the diverse voices and needs of the nation’s cities and counties.”
The Taiwan Rural Front and several environmental groups on Wednesday castigated the “turn” made by the government.
“It made us suspect that the call for the amendment has all been for show, and the calculation made for the coming election could easily trade the protection of farmland for land speculation,” the groups said in a joint statement.
“Since the central government lifted the farmland-for-farmers-only restriction in the Agricultural Development Act (農業發展條例) 15 years ago, farmland speculation and building of houses for non-agricultural use has been rampant, particularly in Yilan, Nantou and Miaoli counties,” they said.
“While the Yilan County Government pledged to tighten its oversight in February and the council promised to amend the regulations by June, the Executive Yuan suddenly agreed to halt the process due to the petition of a legislator who has led a series of land development projects in Miaoli County. We express our serious criticism of this ridiculous move,” the groups said.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS