The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has broken its promise of working toward national development with its disruption yesterday of legislative proceedings and boycotting a review of the budget for the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said.
Protesting against what they called illegal budgeting practices, KMT lawmakers occupied the rostrum ahead of a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, turning chairs into barricades to prevent Premier Lin Chuan (林全) and his Cabinet from delivering a formal report and defending the program’s proposed budget.
The session was adjourned due to an incident in which KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) fought with DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), with Hsu slapping Chiu during a scuffle.
Photo: Huang Chung-shan, Taipei Times
The DPP caucus condemned the KMT’s actions, saying parts of the program were proposed by KMT legislators during elections, adding that the boycott was an apparent reversal of their positions.
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-chin (葉宜津) said the budget was proposed in accordance with the law, adding that a review of the budget is required in four years to modify and terminate unreasonable projects.
The Cabinet is legally prohibited from financing infrastructure projects that have not passed a feasibility assessment, but the KMT has refused to engage in a rational debate, Yeh said.
KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚), when running for Taoyuan mayor in 2014, proposed the development of an MRT system in the city, but he now opposes the program, which proposes just that, DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said.
“Is he admitting that he was proposing an incorrect policy?” Wu Ping-jui said.
The KMT caucus has been “hijacked” by deep-blue supporters to oppose the program for the sake of opposition, which is detrimental to the nation’s development, he added.
Taipei and New Taipei City should not be the only cities entitled to better infrastructure, Wu Ping-jui said, adding that the preliminary budget is necessary to assess and roll out infrastructure plans.
The DPP also condemned violence by KMT lawmakers, demanding an apology from Hsu.
Hsu’s actions were “out of bounds,” and a public apology is required, DPP spokesman Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) said.
The DPP urges solidarity across party lines for the nation’s development and improved living standards, Juan added.
The government will ensure transparency and efficiency in executing each of the infrastructure projects to achieve maximum social benefit, the party said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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