The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it planned to call a second provisional legislative meeting on Aug. 16 to pass the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China.
Caucus secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said KMT lawmakers hoped to hold the provisional session from Aug. 16 to Aug. 31 in a bid to pass the ECFA and a cross-strait copyright protection pact, as well as amend related laws.
During the first provisional session, pan-blue lawmakers agreed on July 9 to refer the ECFA and the copyright deal to a one-month cross-party negotiation period and to allow the pacts to skip a preliminary review, triggering a walkout by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
Under legislative rules, the legislature has to call a vote on a bill after the negotiation period ends.
Lin said the KMT caucus would also include three other proposals on next month’s agenda that would allow Chinese students to enroll in Taiwanese universities and give recognition to Chinese educational credentials. All three proposals are controversial.
However, the caucus will not seek to include a proposed amendment to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) in the agenda because the bill remains “too controversial,” Lin said.
“Local governments have not reached a consensus [as to how to amend the act], so everyone still needs to communicate, but the three bills concerning Chinese students will be included in the agenda because the bills have been stalled for two years,” he said.
Lin said it remains uncertain whether the bill that would reform the National Health Insurance system will be part of agenda.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the KMT caucus had failed to properly prioritize items on the agenda.
The DPP caucus has a different set of priorities for the session because it believes priority should be given to revising the Public Debt Act (公共債務法) and the Act Governing the Allocation for Government Revenues and Expenditures, he said.
More attention should be paid to local government budgets and other financial issues, with the year-end elections around the corner, he said.
“These proposals should be handled first, but instead the KMT wants to put the cart before the horse and first handle the laws concerning Chinese students,” Ker said.
While the DPP caucus will end its boycott for the second provisional legislative session, it would not “passively cooperate” with the KMT caucus on its proposals, Ker said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCENT Y. CHAO
The Central Weather Bureau could issue a sea alert for Super Typhoon Mawar, as it is forecast to turn north and come closest to Taiwan from Tuesday to Wednesday next week. Mawar was downgraded from a super typhoon to a typhoon after sweeping across Guam on Wednesday night, knocking down trees and leaving much of the US territory without power. Many residents of Guam yesterday remained without power and utilities after Mawar tore through the remote US Pacific territory the previous night, ripping roofs off homes, flipping vehicles and shredding trees. There were no immediate reports of deaths and injuries, but the
ADJUSTMENTS: Over the next five years, every year except 2026 would have only one makeup workday to compensate for national holidays, the government said The Executive Yuan (EY) yesterday announced the official workday calendar for next year, which includes one makeup day and four holidays with more than three days off. It also announced new standards for makeup days in the event of consecutive holidays. The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration cited the importance of the Lunar New Year and Tomb Sweeping holidays to the public as its reason to mandate flexible off-days. The 115 total off-days dovetail with dates that international financial markets are closed, minimizing the effects of state holidays on stock and currency exchange trading, it said. Over the next five years, only the calendar for
EMBRACE CHANGE: Jensen Huang told NTU graduates that instead of worrying about AI itself, they should worry that people with expertise in AI would be taking their jobs Artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining the computer industry, and Taiwanese companies could play a major role in replacing the world’s traditional computers as they are the foundation of the industry, Nvidia Corp cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said in Taipei yesterday. Huang made the remarks while giving the keynote speech at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) commencement ceremony. AI has created immense opportunities, and versatile companies can be expected to take advantage and boost their position, while less flexible firms would perish, he said. “In every way, this is a rebirth of the computer industry and a golden opportunity for the companies of
‘ARCHAIC’: An interpretation of a law that considered Chinese as Taiwanese nationals was scrapped after the death of a Chinese in Kaohsiung led to state reparations An administrative mandate to consider Chinese as Taiwanese citizens was outdated, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday, a day after the Executive Yuan ordered that agencies disregard the 30-year-old interpretation. Chen made the remarks at an event held by the Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei following changes to the administrative mandate concerning the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例). The previous interpretation of the law was archaic and contrary to the workings of laws and regulations, he said, adding that the order was made to avoid unnecessary problems created by the mandate. The Mainland
RSS