Despite its tiny size, the TSU legislative caucus has adopted a formidable agenda for the new session that is due to open on Tuesday. It has vowed to push for technology protection and referendum rules, among other controversial items that sit atop its priority list.
Both bills stand slim chance of being passed, as KMT and PFP lawmakers are bound to obstruct their advancement and the DPP has made preserving harmony its top goal in the run-up to next year's presidential polls.
In two previous sessions, the TSU caucus made 29 attempts to place the referendum bill on the legislative calendar, but to no avail.
The proposal would allow the people to have the final say, through a democratic process, on all policy issues -- including planned changes to the nation's status, symbols and constitution. Under the plan, only government budgets, taxes and salaries for public servants would not be voted on.
TSU Legislator Lo Chih-ming (
According to Lo, a separate referendum bill sponsored by DPP Legislator Trong Chai (
But at the request of President Chen Shui-bian (
The TSU has expressed disappointment at its DPP allies recently over various issues such as the Cabinet's plans to allow domestic chipmakers to move across the Strait. It also frowns on the government's media reform plans, saying they would allow pro-unification media greater control of the market.
Chen has asked all DPP officials to dispose of their stakes in any media organizations in keeping with the party's effort to free the media from political influence.
Lo said he found the move poorly thought-out, as publications with Chinese capital have made inroads into the domestic market in recent years.
He singled out Next magazine and the incoming Apple Daily for criticism, saying they are devoted to scandalizing Taiwanese politicians and celebrities.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS