Discussion of the phase-one spending for the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program yesterday failed to progress after lawmakers disagreed over who should preside over the joint committee review.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) took the chairman’s seat at the meeting yesterday morning, but Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers questioned his qualifications and paralyzed the discussion.
“Who should chair the joint committee review is a matter that should be settled by cross-party talks,” KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) said by telephone last night.
Photo: CNA
The KMT legislative caucus was still meeting at press time last night to discuss tactics for the continued review today.
Seven legislative committees are to review this year’s NT$108.9 billion (US$3.58 billion) special budget to bolster infrastructure facilities on town and village levels, as well as enhance the nation’s water engineering projects, railways and digital infrastructure.
The budget is part of the NT$420 billion Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program to achieve a bigger goal over four fiscal years.
With a majority in the legislature, DPP legislative caucus members insisted it was legal and proper that Wang — one of the two conveners at the Finance Committee — preside over the review, in accordance with committee rules.
KMT lawmakers disagreed, saying special arrangements should be made for special legislative sessions.
The lawmaking body is calling extraordinary meetings in the summer recess to review the special spending program.
Opposition lawmakers took turns to occupy the podium and protest Wang’s chairmanship.
“We will not acknowledge the meeting or its decisions,” KMT caucus convener Lin Te-fu (林德福) said.
DPP and KMT lawmakers took to the floor and surrounded Wang, leaving him no choice but to break up the assembly and call for closed-door negotiations yesterday afternoon.
The negotiations failed to bear fruit because Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) was absent on functional duties in southern Taiwan, Tseng said.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said by telephone that the DPP preferred to wait and see how the KMT caucus meeting goes before making its next move.
Opposition lawmakers were displeased that Su sent the spending bill to committee review despite their protest last week.
Su announced the move following a brawl between ruling and opposition lawmakers that was picked up by international media.
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
EXPANSION: While Gigabyte Technology is optimistic about market demand this year, uncertainty remains due to the impact of potential US tariffs and currency fluctuations Motherboard and graphics card maker Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉) yesterday said that it plans to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) server assembly line in the US in the second half of this year. The company’s core motherboard and graphics card businesses in the US remain stable, but sales of its higher-priced AI servers still hinge on the development of tariff policies, Gigabyte chairman Dandy Yeh (葉培城) told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taipei. Yeh was referring to the “reciprocal” tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on April 2, which were later postponed for 90 days. While Gigabyte
RSS