The Legislative Yuan is to vote on President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) nominations for the Control Yuan on July 17 after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators regained access to the legislative chamber yesterday after it was occupied by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers for about 19 hours.
The Legislative Yuan had been scheduled to meet yesterday morning to discuss its planned extraordinary session, but more than 20 KMT lawmakers on Sunday afternoon broke into the main chamber and occupied the legislative speaker’s podium to protest Tsai’s nomination of former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Chu (陳菊) to be Control Yuan president.
The KMT caucus asked whether Chen was qualified, given that during her tenure as Kaohsiung mayor from 2006 to 2018, the Control Yuan launched 58 investigations into her team, including 30 cases of corrective measures and three impeachments.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The KMT lawmakers blocked entry to the main chamber with chairs and chains, but their occupation ended at about 11:15am when DPP legislators broke the chains with bolt cutters.
DPP and KMT legislators scuffled for about an hour before the KMT lawmakers retreated.
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) entered the chamber at about 12:20pm, while KMT legislators shouted chants calling for the withdrawal of Chen’s nomination.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The DPP caucus proposal to hold an extraordinary session from yesterday to July 22 passed 46-28.
The DPP caucus’ proposals to vote on the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan nominations, on Friday next week and July 17 respectively, also passed.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that it is impossible for the caucus to accept KMT lawmakers’ demand that Chen’s nomination be dropped, and he accused the KMT of resorting to an “attack approach” with baseless accusations against Chen.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Speaking to reporters outside the legislative chamber at about 1pm, KMT Legislator Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷) accused DPP lawmakers of seizing him by the neck during a scuffle inside.
Hung asked if Tsai, who doubles as DPP chairperson, approved of what he described as “homicidal violent behavior” by DPP lawmakers and called on her to apologize.
KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) condemned DPP lawmakers’ actions against Hung on behalf of the KMT caucus, adding that Sunday’s occupation was “just the beginning,” and KMT lawmakers would continue to “stand on the side of the people” and “defend democracy [and] justice.”
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Speaking to supporters from a raised platform on a truck parked outside the Legislative Yuan, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said that KMT lawmakers are prepared to return to the legislative chamber “anytime.”
The sides of the truck were covered with posters printed with the words, “Democracy is dead” and “Tyranny must die.”
At about 3:30pm, KMT lawmakers attempted to take over the podium inside the legislative chamber, but were blocked by DPP legislators.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said that to ensure that the extraordinary session runs smoothly, DPP lawmakers would take turns standing guard outside the legislative chamber.
Additional reporting by CNA, Lin Liang-sheng and Hsieh Chun-lin
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS