The Cabinet is to prioritize economic bills, an anticipated revision to the Mining Act (礦業法) and military pension reform during the new legislative session beginning tomorrow, placing more than 100 bills at the top of the agenda.
The bills also include revisions to the Company Act (公司法), the Urban Renewal Act (都市更新條例) and tax reduction proposals, among others, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said yesterday.
There are also government budgets, appointments and restructuring bills to be considered, and the exact list of the priority bills would not be finalized until the coordination meeting between the Executive Yuan and DPP Caucus, which is to be held today, Ker said.
Military pension reform and economic proposals — such as revisions of the urban renewal and company acts, which would streamline building reconstruction process and improve compliance with measures against money laundering and flexibility in company management — might be urgent, but while “people like to ask which bills are of the highest importance, personnel appointments and budgets are also very important,” Ker said.
Other economic proposals include extending the 50 percent reduction in day-trading transaction taxes by three more years, a tax reform package that would change personal deduction rules and a proposal to revise the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) with the aim of improving the financial health of local governments.
The Cabinet is also to review bills pertaining to “smart” industry, “green” energy, cultural policies, social welfare, social justice, government efficiency and cross-strait relations.
Some bills have been pending for several legislative sessions, including amendments to the Mining Act that would improve environmental protection mechanisms and Aboriginal rights, a number of plans to merge or upgrade government agencies, an information security bill, a non-profit organization management act and a bill on establishing an oversight mechanism for cross-strait agreements.
The Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法) has been branded a priority bill by all of the caucuses, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus plans to prioritize reviewing food safety rules, the New Power Party wants to address the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) and the People First Party has proposed establishing a high-level disaster-prevention agency.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
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Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard