When exactly did Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) join the blue camp? He used to stand with the young people, but now he turns his back on them.
Huang has been urging the legislative reform bills proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and TPP to be passed.
When the bills were first proposed, I expected them to help replace the chaotic chamber with a more self-disciplined one.
However, instead of trying to introduce order into chaos, the opposition is attempting a power grab, overriding government officials and even Taiwan’s elected head of state.
The bills cover a series of outrageous regulations, and that is why the KMT and TPP resist openly discussing the details.
Legislative reforms are just an excuse. The KMT and the TPP’s real intention is to expand the power of lawmakers. They are brazenly moving the goalposts.
Those who refuse a demand by the legislature or delay their response, conceal information or provide false statements during an investigation or when it reviews documents can be fined NT$10,000 to NT$100,000, according to a change to Article 48, Paragraph 2 of the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) being proposed by the KMT and the TPP.
Who do the KMT and TPP think they are? Legislators have no right to do that.
Sadly, if the amendments proceed, lawmakers would be given the authority to control the public. That would be an exploitation of human rights, in which politicians are forever superior to the public and are able to punish anyone as they wish.
That is no different than the White Terror era.
We all know that the Legislative Yuan is a place where political parties confront each other. Considering this, lawmakers are not necessarily required to behave in a regulated norm; their ridiculous or stupid words and behaviors are even, to some degree, countenanced by the public.
If lawmakers are given so much room to express their ideas, why is the public not given the equivalent rights to reject an unreasonable query on providing information?
We often worry that the executive power overrides other authorities under a constitutional system. Surprisingly, in Taiwan, it is the legislative floor that seeks to monopolize the governing. That would definitely be a “remarkable” page in the constitutional system.
The Constitution of the Republic of China says that the Legislative Yuan does not have investigative rights. If the KMT and the TPP “empower” themselves to investigate the public by means of making a law, they would ruin the separation of powers.
Even if the legislature is given the right to investigate the public, there should be some limitations. For instance, lawmakers can ask a person to testify in court or to provide information, but they should never be allowed to force anyone to do so.
If a person refuses to comply with the request, the Legislative Yuan could propose a motion to the court to subpoena that person as a witness or to provide evidence.
In terms of fines, the Legislative Yuan should also file a motion to the court to impose sanctions, and the decisions should not be made by the Legislative Yuan itself.
Nonetheless, the KMT and the TPP are trying to give the legislature the ultimate power to impose a sanction only based on resolution in the plenary sitting, but judgement by the courts. Are they trying to bully the public?
Liu Che-chia is secretary-general of the Sovereign State for Formosa and the Pescadores Party.
Translated by Hsieh Yi-ching
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long been expansionist and contemptuous of international law. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the CCP regime has become more despotic, coercive and punitive. As part of its strategy to annex Taiwan, Beijing has sought to erase the island democracy’s international identity by bribing countries to sever diplomatic ties with Taipei. One by one, China has peeled away Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic partners, leaving just 12 countries (mostly small developing states) and the Vatican recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign nation. Taiwan’s formal international space has shrunk dramatically. Yet even as Beijing has scored diplomatic successes, its overreach
In her article in Foreign Affairs, “A Perfect Storm for Taiwan in 2026?,” Yun Sun (孫韻), director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said that the US has grown indifferent to Taiwan, contending that, since it has long been the fear of US intervention — and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) inability to prevail against US forces — that has deterred China from using force against Taiwan, this perceived indifference from the US could lead China to conclude that a window of opportunity for a Taiwan invasion has opened this year. Most notably, she observes that
For Taiwan, the ongoing US and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets are a warning signal: When a major power stretches the boundaries of self-defense, smaller states feel the tremors first. Taiwan’s security rests on two pillars: US deterrence and the credibility of international law. The first deters coercion from China. The second legitimizes Taiwan’s place in the international community. One is material. The other is moral. Both are indispensable. Under the UN Charter, force is lawful only in response to an armed attack or with UN Security Council authorization. Even pre-emptive self-defense — long debated — requires a demonstrably imminent
Since being re-elected, US President Donald Trump has consistently taken concrete action to counter China and to safeguard the interests of the US and other democratic nations. The attacks on Iran, the earlier capture of deposed of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and efforts to remove Chinese influence from the Panama Canal all demonstrate that, as tensions with Beijing intensify, Washington has adopted a hardline stance aimed at weakening its power. Iran and Venezuela are important allies and major oil suppliers of China, and the US has effectively decapitated both. The US has continuously strengthened its military presence in the Philippines. Japanese Prime
RSS