American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Kin Moy yesterday visited Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to congratulate him on his recent election, as both parties expressed their desire for stronger US-Taiwan ties.
Su, who on Monday was elected the nation’s first non-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative speaker, said Moy contacted him through the Legislative Yuan’s public relations office and expressed his wish to pay him a visit and offer his congratulations.
“We have talked a lot, including how legislative meetings proceeded in the past, and he praised Taiwan’s democracy, saying that, despite the disputes, lawmakers could always reach conclusions in the end,” Su said after a 40-minute meeting behind closed doors. “He also said that Taiwan and the US have a very close relationship, adding that the US hopes that Taiwan stabilizes its economic development, and that Taiwan and the US can be good partners in the future.”
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
In response to media queries on whether they touched on more sensitive issues, such as the ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Su said: “No.”
Moy was more concerned about the legislature’s priorities in lawmaking, Su said, adding that a bill on transition of power is expected to be passed soon after the next legislative session starts on Feb. 19, while more controversial bills will be left to further cross-party negotiations.
In related news, Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) spoke about what he plans to do to allow the public to petition for legislative proposals online.
Tsai said that he would begin research on the creation of an online petition platform after the Lunar New Year holiday, adding that he expected to meet two major challenges.
“On the technical part, we have to overcome issues on security and authenticity, because petitioning for legislation online cannot be like dong a petition on Facebook, where anyone can apply for an account,” Tsai said. “But if you want the public to leave their personal data, you must make sure that it is safe.”
Tsai said that laws would need to be amended to make online petitions legally valid, while a set of regulations would also be needed to regulate details of the petition procedure, such as the threshold.
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