The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been calling high-level meetings on various issues in a bid to make sure that the government and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) keep pace with each other, but the practice has drawn mixed reactions from DPP lawmakers, with some calling for “normalizing” government affairs after passing through the first bumpy stage in power.
The government has five main policy communication platforms: the Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan policy coordination meeting on Monday evenings; Tsai’s meeting with Premier Lin Chuan (林全) on Wednesday mornings, followed by Tsai presiding over the DPP Standing Committee meeting in the afternoon; a lunch meeting between Lin and DPP lawmakers on Thursday; and the DPP caucus meeting on Friday.
Tsai also held an “integration meeting” with top Executive Yuan officials, the legislative speaker and deputy speaker, the DPP caucus convener and heads of special municipalities on Sept. 4, a week before the Legislative Yuan opened, and held a similar meeting two weeks later.
DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said Tsai invited lawmakers to discuss some issues, and included the heads of special municipalities and made the discussion of national issues a regular item on the meeting’s agenda.
Ker said he believes this made policy implementation more comprehensive.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said party-government coordination meetings used to be more political and the function has been taken over by the lunch meeting between the premier and the lawmakers, adding that discussions related to policy and legislation are now held during the Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan coordination meeting.
A channel to exchange views between the premier and the party caucus is necessary, as the premier no longer attends the DPP’s Standing Committee meeting, Chen said, adding that this is a more nuanced way of division of labor in communication.
DPP caucus director-general Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said efficient communication is required by the government.
He said that even if a decision is made during communication, differences could emerge when it comes to implementation.
“The number of meetings is not the problem, as the most important part is implementing the decisions,” he said.
The goals and functions of the meetings differ, so that their functions do not overlap, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said, adding that the policies discussed during the meetings are mostly outlined by government bodies, where lawmakers voice the public’s opinions.
Mutual understanding could be achieved with more dialogue to iron out the differences, she said.
However, DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said the period highlighted by the differences should be waded through quickly and the government should be allowed to return to its normal structure.
“Policy implementation could only flourish only after each government agency returns to their autonomous state. If the government agencies cannot keep up with the ruling party and have problems working on their own,” then the people heading them might need to be replaced, she said.
Kuan also said that if the nation is burdened by too many such meetings, the “power route” would be obscured and the decisionmaking process would become confusing, which would lead to inaction and conservatism in government agencies.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai