The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has prepared close to 4,000 motions to slash or freeze the general budget for next year that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) hopes to pass during the extraordinary session starting next week, KMT caucus convener Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) said yesterday.
The second legislative plenary session started its recess yesterday, with lawmakers scheduled to meet from Wednesday to Jan. 26 for an extraordinary session.
The state-run enterprises’ budget proposal for this year, the review of which had been obstructed by the KMT submitting more than a 1,000 motions for changes since the last legislative plenary session, finally cleared the floor yesterday.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
However, the general budget proposals for next year are still in limbo, with Sufin yesterday claiming to have prepared about 4,000 motions to slash and freeze funding.
These motions will surely be put to vote and drag out the meeting, which is what the KMT caucus wants, the convener said, urging the DPP caucus to engage in negotiations.
Other than the budget proposals for state-run enterprises, the legislature also cleared several amendment bills yesterday.
Amendments were made to the Act for the Development of Biotech and New Pharmaceuticals Industry (生技新藥產業發展條例) to relax the definition of applications for “high-risk medical devices” and add “biotech and new pharmaceutical products” as a new category.
The Patent Act (專利法) was amended so that those who apply for an invention patent now are allowed an application period of 12 months after disclosure. The restrictions on how the disclosure are made have been scrapped.
Amendments to the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) were made to increase penalties for violations of the act. Those charged with illegally disposing of waste resulting in death can be sentenced to seven years to life imprisonment, with the fine also increasing from no more than NT$30 million (US$929,397) to NT$15 million. Fines for waste disposal resulting in serious injuries were also increased from NT$9 million to NT$25 million, in addition to three to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Prison terms for disposing of waste that leads to human endangerment were increased from one year to between five years and seven years, and the fine raised from NT$6 million at NT$20 million.
The amended act also states that waste incinerators in each city and county should prioritize the municipality’s general waste rather than industrial waste.
The amendment bill to the Special Service Act (特種勤務條例) was cleared to provide medical care and nursing care if special service personnel suffers serious injuries resulting in permanent disability while on duty.
The amendment to the Tax Collection Act (稅捐稽徵法) to extend the tax collection period for taxpayers who owe more than NT$10 million in taxes by five years, thereby pushing the deadline to March 4, 2022, also passed its third reading.
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
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