Lawmakers from across party lines yesterday agreed to place a draft bill regulating the release of government holdings in terrestrial TV stations at the top of Friday's legislative agenda. It will be followed by the confirmation of National Communications Commission (NCC) nominees.
The pan-blue camp threatened to force through the confirmation on Friday if caucuses fail to reach consensus on the issue today, when Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) is scheduled to call a cross-party meeting.
Another cross-party talk was arranged for today to address the draft bill regulating the release of government holdings.
PHOTO: CNA
KMT Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan (
He also proposed to place the confirmation of NCC nominees as the second bill for discussion. While the Executive Yuan has not yet sent the list of nominees to the legislature, Tseng said his caucus would use the copy his caucus obtained from the NCC review committee.
Agreement
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (
Lai, however, said the confirmation of NCC nominations should be shelved, because the legislature's confirmation should be based on the nominees presented by the Executive Yuan.
He called on the pan-blue camp to support the administration's proposal to call a provisional meeting and nominate another candidate. He also requested that Wang ask the review committee to comply with the government's proposition.
Verbal battle
A minor catfight then broke out, as two female legislators called each other names.
DPP Legislator Kuan Pi-ling (
Kuan accused Hung of being a bully and clueless about the negotiation process surrounding the bill, and Hung told Kuan to shut up and show her respect, because she was a veteran lawmaker.
The pan-blue dominated Procedure Committee voted 17 to 13 in favor of Tseng's proposal.
The committee deferred a motion filed by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus to form an inquiry commission to probe into the KMT's improperly acquired party assets. They also deferred a DPP proposal to invite President Chen Shui-bian (
The committee rejected the arms procurement package for the 43rd time yesterday, and Lai filed a motion asking committee members to specify how long they plan to postpone the bill.
The committee voted against Lai's motion. Lai then led other DPP committee members in staging a protest on the floor, chanting "we want the arms procurement plan" and "we don't want to surrender."
Holding a placard reading "those opposing the arms procurement plan should guarantee that China won't attack Taiwan," Lai said his caucus would agree to scrap the arms procurement plan if the pan-blue camp could obtain China's pledge not to attack the country.
The committee also voted in favor of the KMT caucus' proposal to send DPP Legislator Lin Chung-mo (林重謨) to the legislature's Discipline Committee for punishment. Lin engaged in a physical clash with independent Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) last Wednesday during a finance committee meeting.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
RSS