A foreign aid bill sailed through a legislative committee meeting yesterday as lawmakers endeavored to curb problems with Taiwan's foreign aid practices.
Lawmakers incorporated three related bills and revamped existing legislation.
Amid growing pressure from across party lines to make Taiwan's foreign aid more transparent and accountable, the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee reviewed the three related bills on foreign aid yesterday.
After lengthy debate between lawmakers and foreign ministry officials, the bill, formally termed the International Cooperation and Development Law, saw the three related bills combined.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs drew up the Cabinet-initiated bill, DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) sponsored a second bill, while KMT lawmaker Apollo Chen (陳學聖) and DPP Legislator Parris Chang (張旭成) jointly proposed the third.
In what she described as a move to curb problems in Taiwan's effort to establish industrial zones overseas to secure diplomatic ties, independent lawmaker Sisy Chen (
"International cooperation projects, when related to the establishment of industrial zones, should be subject to an open bidding process. The signing of these contracts as well as the release of funds from the related budgetary pool won't begin before a related risk assessment by notable finance consulting firms is completed," Chen's addition stated.
"Any international cooperation project that exceeds NT$50 million should be required to undergo evaluation by a third government body aside from the overseas offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF)," Chen's amendment added.
The ICDF, founded in 1996, is Taiwan's principal body overseeing foreign aid, with a majority of its budget coming from the foreign ministry. The foreign minister serving as the fund's chairman.
Chen also endeavored to revamp the three related bills by saying that the ICDF's annual budget should be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review, a move that triggered criticism from foreign ministry officials.
"If the budgetary bill [put forward by the ICDF] fails to go through the legislature, then we won't be able to implement our related foreign aid schemes," said Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lan Chih-min (
Lan added that he was not sure if the addition proposed by some lawmakers would "damage the spirit of the bill" put forward by the Cabinet.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
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