After lengthy wheeling and dealing, the legislature yesterday wrapped up review of the 2002 fiscal budget without barring the foreign ministry from printing the words "Issued in Taiwan'' on new passport covers.
The lawmaking body passed the government budget by paring NT$12 billion, or 0.7 percent, from the projected spending of NT$1.58 trillion for this year.
But opposition lawmakers agreed to tone down the language of a resolution that bans the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from altering the country's title shown on passports.
PHOTO: AFP
They noted that the upcoming addition of the English phrase "Issued in Taiwan" would not flout the resolution.
"Since the phrase will not appear right under or after the country's title, it will not cause confusion as we had warned," People First Party legislative leader Chou Hsi-wei (
A week ago, President Chen Shui-bian (
The announcement drew protest from the opposition alliance whose lawmakers had vowed to attach a rider to the budget bill barring the foreign ministry from amending the passport covers.
Going a step further, New Party legislator Elmer Fung (
Compromise came after the ministry agreed to add the English phrase "Issued in Taiwan" rather than "Taiwan" alone in Roman script to the new passport covers.
In a conciliatory gesture, the opposition-controlled legislature pared only NT$35 million from the ministry's funding.
The passage of the 2002 budget marked the end of the Fourth Legislature with newly elected lawmakers slated to take their oaths of office on Feb. 1.
Though the legislators approved a NT$16 billion fund aimed at providing senior citizens with a monthly allowance, they attached a clause requiring enactment of a welfare law before the money may be distributed.
The restriction emerged as a policy setback to the DPP government that has sought unsuccessfully for a second year to honor a key promise Chen made during his 2000 presidential campaign.
DPP legislative whip Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said he was pessimistic the allowance would ever be distributed, noting that the ruling party lacks the majority needed to give the fund a legal basis.
Still, during a dinner party with Cabinet officials, the president expressed satisfaction at the high number of bills passed.
He thanked all government agencies for putting in sustained efforts over the last months to push for passage of important legislation.
The legislative session, which concluded at 8pm, witnessed more than 170 bills made into law, despite its being shortened by one month before the legislative polls. A total of 112 lawmakers have vacated their offices or are preparing to do so, including those who have been sworn in as county commissioners or city mayors.
Though the budgetary cut came as the lowest in 10 years, the Cabinet-level Council for Cultural Affairs issued a statement in the evening, saying it regretted the removal of NT$500 million from its projected spending.
Chen Yu-chiou (
She said the council would strive to maintain its quality of performance with the slashed budget.
By contrast, proposals to slash honorary benefits for former president Lee Teng-hui (
Due to time constraints, a number of high-profile bills, notably the proposals to establish a financial supervisory board and provide monetary compensation for former soldiers, did not make it to second and third readings.
See Editorial
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats