As the Executive Yuan plans to continue pushing controversial policies before president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration on May 20, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said that the DPP caucus would stage a boycott if the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) caretaker government attempts to force the policies through.
Following the KMT’s defeat in the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 16, the Cabinet on Wednesday published a list of policies it said it would continue to push before Tsai takes office.
The policies include easing regulations to allow white-collar foreign workers in the nation, joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), allowing Chinese capital into the IC design industry, allowing Chinese visitors to buy securities in Taiwan, extending National Health Insurance coverage to Chinese students, mutually setting up representative offices across the Taiwan Strait with Beijing and shortening the waiting period for Chinese immigrant spouses’ naturalization.
The list also includes policy proposals that have been halted by the legislature, as well as amendments to existing laws.
Although the legislature had adopted a resolution requiring the Executive Yuan to make an industrial impact assessment report, hold public hearings, and make a presentation at the legislature before the legislature would review the proposal to allow Chinese capital in IC design, Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) has been lobbying with KMT lawmakers to review the proposal in the new legislative session, so that it might be passed before May 20.
In addition, although Deng following the elections said that talks regarding the cross-strait trade in goods agreement would be suspended while the caretaker government is in office, he later said he would still push for continuing the talks if the situation permits.
DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) yesterday said that negotiations may only proceed after the legislature passes a bill regarding cross-strait negotiations, adding that as the bill is yet to be passed, the government should halt such negotiations.
As for the government’s plan to allow white-collar foreign workers into Taiwan, Lin said that the policy serves to fulfill the needs of businesses that want to cut labor costs and might cause salaries to drop, adding that if President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government tries to force it through, the DPP would launch a boycott.
DPP legislator-elect Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said the policy outline for allowing white-collar foreign workers is incomplete and would further lower the starting salaries of young people.
As for the AIIB bid, Wang said that it concerns foreign policy, adding that the government should not do anything as it does not have a popular mandate.
The legislator-elect said that as the new legislature is about to take over, the DPP would “stop everything that should be stopped” in the legislature.
Since Vice Premier Simon Chang (張善政) said that the trade in goods agreement would not be signed before May 20, the preparatory works should be stopped for the moment, DPP legislator-elect Frida Tsai (蔡培慧) said, adding that after being sworn-in as a legislator she would talk to different government agencies, reminding them to shift their attention from trying to fulfill the requests of their superiors to protecting public interest.
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said the people have voted the KMT government out of office and therefore it should do its job as a caretaker government well and refrain from pushing controversial bills.
“If the premier tries to force anything through, we will wait and see,” he said.
Additional reporting by Tseng Wei-chen
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
RSS