The referral of draft acts for oversight of cross-strait agreements to the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee for deliberation was again deferred yesterday after a procedural fight between the ruling and the opposition parties in the legislature.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmakers occupied the podium yesterday to obstruct the passage of the amendment on the recall threshold and a number of draft acts on cross-strait agreements oversight at the Internal Administration Committee meeting presided over by a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker.
The KMT had planned to veto the reconsideration proposal it itself had motioned for referring the oversight bills to the standing committee.
With the veto it could then have the oversight bills handed to this week’s committee meeting, which is to be presided over by a KMT legislator.
If the reconsideration failed to be put to a vote at yesterday’s floor meeting, as would happen in the case of a stalled legislature, the vote over the reconsideration proposal would be postponed to Friday’s floor meeting.
If it is vetoed then, the oversight bills would be referred to the committee next week, during which the committee meeting is to be led by a DPP committee convener.
The KMT therefore called for the suspension of placing the reconsideration proposal on Friday’s discussion agenda at the Procedure Committee meeting yesterday, which was to decide on the agenda for Friday’s floor meeting.
Also decided at the Procedure Committee’s meeting was the placement on the agenda of the proposal for handing DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) over to the legislature’s Discipline Committee over his behavior at the funeral of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mother.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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