Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Deputy Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday accused the Central Election Commission (CEC) of overstepping its purview after it last week asked Hau to clarify the question for a referendum he initiated regarding food imports from Japan.
The referendum asks for people’s views on importing food products from five Japanese prefectures that have been banned since the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in 2011.
The referendum drive, launched by Hau in December 2016, last month passed the initiation stage and is under review by the CEC, which last week asked Hau to clarify the question.
In its letter to Hau, the CEC said that South Korea, which has imposed a similar ban on potentially radiation-contaminated food products from Japan, is entangled in an international lawsuit with Japan, which accused South Korea of breaching the WHO’s Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.
Hau should address the possibility that Taiwan breached international regulations and might incur a lawsuit if the referendum is passed, the CEC said.
At a news conference in Taipei, Hau said the CEC’s letter was “beyond comprehension and most reproachable.”
The result of the lawsuit between Japan and South Korea would not have any legal effects on Taiwan’s decisionmaking, he said.
The referendum review committee was abolished after amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) were passed in December last year, meaning that the CEC no longer has the right to review the content of a proposed referendum and can only ask a proposer to correct personal information regarding themselves or to gather the legally required number of signatures to pass the initiation or reconfirmation stages, Hau said.
The CEC has used red tape to obstruct the initiative, Hau said, referring to a provision cited by the CEC that says the proposer of a drive must submit follow-up information on a referendum question within 30 days of notification if it considers the question to be obscure.
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) accused CEC members of being Japan’s lackeys for using the South Korean lawsuit as the reason for asking Hau to submit follow-up information.
“Why do you give a damn [about the lawsuit]?” Fai said.
If the CEC is worried about Hau’s referendum affecting the nation’s relationship with Japan, it should not have allowed the initiation of Olympic medalist Chi Cheng’s (紀政) referendum asking people whether they think the nation’s athletes should use the name “Taiwan” in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, KMT Legislator Lai shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
If Chi’s referendum is approved, it would result in the team’s disqualification in today’s international political climate, he said.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS