The special arms procurement bill failed yet again to pass the legislature's Procedure Committee yesterday, the second attempt since the government adjusted the arms budget downward from the original NT$610.8 billion to NT$480 billion.
However, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus managed to push its anti-invasion peace bill (
The People First Party (PFP) also successfully moved forward the draft statute regarding the facilitation of peace across the Taiwan Strait (
The pan-blue-dominated Procedure Committee agreed to push the TSU's anti-invasion peace bill and the technology protection bill to committees for review, in exchange for the TSU's withdrawal of a bill regarding the disposition of assets improperly obtained by civil associations (
The anti-invasion peace bill says that the government should call a referendum and amend the Constitution to safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty if the cross-strait status quo is threatened. In addition, the bill would allow the president to use "non-peaceful means" to respond to a Chinese attack.
Commenting on the opposition camp's boycotting the arms procurement bill, DPP Legislator Chuang Suo-han (
"In the face of the war bill [the Anti-Secession Law] and China's military threats, we should show our determination to defend ourselves by passing the arms budget," Chuang said.
"I'm calling on the Procedure Committee to push the budget bill to the defense and budget committees for review and let committee members conduct substantial discussions of the bill."
DPP Legislator Kao Chien-chih (
"The Ministry of National Defense has reported on various occasions and on different aspects of the arms budget to the legislature's defense committee," he said. "It's time to send the bill to committee for further debates."
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), however, said that his caucus will not agree to push the arms bill to committees for review unless the budget is earmarked as an annual one, rather than a special one.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lee Yung-ping (李永萍) proposed that the Executive Yuan withdraw the arms bill and earmark the budget as part of the national defense ministry's annual budget, to avoid the committees' review of the bill as a special budget.
DPP caucus whip Lai Ching-teh (賴清德) said that his caucus has not and will not boycott any bill proposed by the other legislative caucuses, except for pork-barrel bills proposed by individual lawmakers. Under this policy, the DPP caucus yesterday threw its backing behind a draft statute regarding the facilitation of peace across the Taiwan Strait proposed by the PFP.
The draft mandates the establishment of a 17-member committee and appointment of several "peace ambassadors" to address 11 cross-strait policy issues.
They include signing an agreement about direct transportation links, the establishment of a demilitarized zone, the inking of an accord to protect China-based Taiwanese businesspeople, the setting up of a cross-strait free trade zone, the holding of a cross-strait summit and the signing of a peace accord with China.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
RSS