The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the third reading of a bill to convert Taiwan’s 17 irrigation associations into a government body, despite strong opposition from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and some farmers.
There are 17 irrigation associations nationwide and one joint association in Taichung, a Council of Agriculture Web site showed.
When the legislature passed amendments to the Act of Irrigation Association Organization (農田水利會組織通則) in 2018 requiring the entities to be legally defined as public juridical persons, the government was already seeking “illegitimate ways” to “infringe upon assets belonging to irrigation associations,” KMT Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The amendments also stated that the head of each association should be appointed by the government, starting in October.
The government has passed the draft in a bid to nationalize the associations’ assets, which are valued at about NT$75.6 billion (US$2.56 billion), Kung said, adding that the assets belong to the associations’ members and should not be taken by the nation.
KMT Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said that during Japanese colonial rule, Taiwanese began to think of agricultural irrigation infrastructure as public constructions, giving rise to the irrigation associations, which have been operating on their own terms for more than 100 years.
However, the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP) has resorted to a “tyranny of the majority” to forcibly pass the bill so that it can “seize associations’ assets under the guise of upgrading them to government bodies,” Lin said.
The KMT would not allow the DPP to take advantage of its parliamentary majority and act in such a wanton way, Lin said, adding that the KMT vows to demand a constitutional interpretation on the issue.
DPP caucus secretary-general Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said that if irrigation associations are non-governmental entities, they cannot enforce the law or crack down on people involved in illegal activity related to agricultural irrigation and drainage and their funds for irrigation and drainage come from the council.
Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said that the council would establish a new irrigation and water conservancy department, with 17 divisions, that would replace the 17 associations.
Additional reporting by Chien Hui-ju
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
UNDER ATTACK: Raymond Greene said there were 412 billion malicious threats in the Asia-Pacific region in the first half of 2023, with 55 percent targeting Taiwan Taiwan not only faces military intimidation from China, but is also on the front line of global cybersecurity threats, and it is taking action to counter those attacks, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Speaking at the opening of this year’s Cybersec Expo in Taipei, the president assured foreign diplomats and exhibitors that Taiwan remained committed to strengthening its defense against cyberattacks and enhancing the resilience of its digital infrastructure. Lai referenced a report from the National Security Bureau (NSB) indicating that the Government Service Network faced an average of 2.4 million intrusion attempts daily last year, more than double the figure
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS