The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday blocked a government-sponsored amendment to the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) that would have cut the 0.3 percent stock transaction tax in half to boost the stock market.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus planned to get the bill passed yesterday after placing it on the agenda for a second reading last Friday, even though it hadn’t received a preliminary review from the legislative committee.
But the DPP caucus proposed a motion that would refer the bill to the legislature’s Finance Committee for preliminary review — a regular review process that bills are supposed to go through — meaning the bill will have its second reading next month at the earliest.
The legislative session passed an amendment to the Gender Equality in Employment Law (性別工作平等法), raising the punishment for employers in violation of regulations on adopting precautionary measures against sexual harassment.
Fines were increased from between NT$10,000 and NT$100,000 to NT$100,000 and NT$500,000.
An amendment to the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (公職人員選舉罷免法) requiring the government to set up disabled-friendly facilities in voting stations was also passed.
The legislature passed the Organic Act of Taiwan Financial Holdings Co, Ltd (台灣金融控股有限公司條例) to give legal status to the state-owned corporation.
The act states that the amount of the corporation’s government-owned capital shall be no less than 90 percent of its registered capital, while the number of executives sitting on its 13-to-15-member board who are foreigners or hold dual nationality shall not exceed two.
Meanwhile, the legislature yesterday scheduled a review session for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) nominee for president of the Examination Yuan, John Kuan (關中), and the nominee for vice president of the Control Yuan, Chen Jinn-lih (陳進利), for next Friday.
The legislature also passed an amendment to the Statute Regulating Firearms, Ammunition, Knives and Other Deadly Weapons (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) that means people who illegally obtain such weapons will have their punishment increased by up to one half.
Under current regulations, people possessing such weapons without permission can recieve the death penalty, a life sentence or a seven-year sentence and a fine of up to NT$30 million (US$1 million).
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
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