Passage of a bill regulating the release of government holdings in terrestrial TV stations appears likely today, despite opposition from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus.
The bill has been listed at the top of today's legislative agenda. Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"I hope that all parties can make some concessions and agree not to enshrine in the law a proportional makeup for the review committee," Wang said. "As soon as there is a consensus, the bill will proceed to the second and third readings."
Upset by the dispute over the Liming Foundation (黎明基金會), TSU caucus whip Mark Ho (
The military-affiliated foundation owns about 25 percent of Chinese Television System (CTS). While the foundation has insisted that it is a private company and agreed to release 25 percent of its CTS holdings, the TSU said that it would like to see the foundation dissolved because its assets belong to the government. The party cited an investigation report on the matter released by the Control Yuan in 1999.
Ho said that he stormed out of cross-party talks called by Wang yesterday to express his anger over the pan-blue camp's rejection of his request to attach a rider to the bill asking the Ministry of National Defense to dissolve the Liming Foundation.
Party negotiators had originally agreed to Ho's request, but KMT caucus whip Pan Wei-kang (
The TSU and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representatives then refused to sign an accord.
Ho also voiced his caucus' opposition to the establishment of a committee to review the disposition of public holdings in terrestrial TV stations in proportion to the seats each party has in the legislature.
DPP Legislator Kuan Pi-ling (
Kuan said that party negotiators also agreed to attach another amendment to the bill, requesting that CTS -- which would become a public corporation under the bill -- relocate to southern Taiwan five years after the law takes effect.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
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IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
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