The legislature yesterday elected new conveners to head its eight committees, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus winning nine seats and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus securing seven.
Under the Legislative Committee Organization Act (立法院各委員會組織法), each committee is to elect two conveners.
Apart from the Education and Culture Committee, for which the DPP secured both seats, the DPP and the KMT lawmakers secured one seat each on the other committees.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) was elected convener of the Education and Culture Committeeby a vote, while DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) claimed the second seat over KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) after drawing lots.
The electoral process for the Transportation Committee, the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee and the Finance Committee closely shadowed that of the Education and Culture Committee, with the DPP caucus winning the first seats by vote, but losing the other seat to the KMT after drawing lots.
DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and KMT Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) are to take turns presiding over the Transportation Committee; DPP Legislator Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) and KMT Legislator Chen Yi-min (陳宜民) are to be in charge of the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee; and DPP Legislator Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) and KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) are to chair the Finance Committee.
The legislators on the Economics Committee and the Foreign and National Defense Committee — which are to undertake reviews of planned pension cuts for military retirees during the ongoing session — resolved to choose their conveners through nomination.
DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) and KMT Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲) were nominated as conveners for the Defense Committee, while DPP Legislator Kao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) and KMT Legislator Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) are to preside over the Economics Committee.
DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) and KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) received the highest and second-highest number votes in the election for the Judiciary and Organic Laws Committee and are to take turns presiding over the committee’s meetings.
DPP Legislator Hung Tsung-yi (洪宗熠) and KMT Legislator Yang Chen-wu (楊鎮浯) were elected Internal Administration Committee conveners.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon