The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would hold a disciplinary meeting this week, KMT caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said yesterday. The move comes following a vote in the legislature on Friday in which the opposition parties almost mustered enough votes to pass a motion banning the import of US beef, despite the KMT holding a majority of legislative seats.
The resolution, a joint effort by the Democratic Progressive Party, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and the People First Party, called for the government to remove US beef from the shelves of local stores, place imported US beef under customs seal and temporarily ban US beef because of the outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, commonly called mad cow disease), in accordance with Article 5-7 of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures adopted by WTO members.
During the first round of voting on Friday, KMT legislators Yang Ying-hsiung (楊應雄) and Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井) abstained, though they voted against the resolution in the second round after coming under pressure from KMT caucus whips to toe the party line. Another three KMT lawmakers — Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), Lin Chang-min (林滄敏) and Lo Shu-lei (羅淑雷) — also abstained from voting in the second round.
Lin Chang-min said that although he disapproved of the pan-green camp’s “surprise attacks” in introducing the resolution, there were legitimate reasons to ban imports of US beef given that the US had recorded a new case of mad cow disease.
Lin Chang-min said that he abstained from voting out of a belief that public health is an issue of paramount importance and that he felt it was his responsibility first and foremost to defend the interests of Taiwanese.
Lo said that prior to the party’s priority mobilization, the KMT caucus had not been informed what the vote would be about, adding that it was only after the session started that she realized the vote was on a resolution to ban the import of US beef.
Lo said she abstained because she did not know how to articulate her concern over the subject in such a short span of time.
As to a KMT caucus regulation that imposes fines on lawmakers who fail to cooperate with a caucus priority mobilization order, Lo said she was happy to pay the fine if her actions contributed to heightening public awareness over the issue.
According to Lin Hung-chih, failure to comply with a priority mobilization order can result in a fine of NT$10,000 (US$340), but he also said that no fine had been imposed since the previous legislative term.
Meanwhile, Ting said that he abstained because he had family matters to take care of in the morning and when he arrived at the Legislative Yuan, he met with an official from CPC Corp. By the time he returned to the legislative session, the second round of voting had already started and he had no idea what was being voted on so he abstained, Ting said.
KMT legislator Yang Li-huan (楊麗環), who was absent from Friday’s session, said she had absented herself because she opposed leanness-enhancing additive-laced US beef, even more so after the case of mad cow disease, and would have had to vote in favor had she attended.
“I had already told the caucus group that I favored zero tolerance for leanness-enhancing additives laced beef,” Yang said, adding that “we should not import poisoned things for people to eat, because who are they going to blame if they get sick years later after we allow imports?”
Two other KMT legislators who abstained from voting were Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) and Ma Wen-jun (馬文君). They said they arrived late to the session and were about to vote when the voting concluded.
Lin Hung-chih said KMT lawmakers declining to cooperate with the party whips was a warning sign.
“We will launch an internal review next week to uphold party discipline and ensure party unity,” he said, adding that the caucus needed better discipline and unity otherwise it would be unable to defend the people’s rights and push through the policies of the government.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS