Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged lawmakers to pass proposed constitutional amendments without dispute, while calling on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to refrain from “kidnapping” reform.
Attending the DPP caucus meeting for the first time in this legislative session, Tsai was greeted by loud cheers as she walked in.
She shook hands with each of the legislators, who responded by saying: “Hello, president.”
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Speaking to inaugurate the meeting, Tsai urged the caucus to put as much effort as possible into pushing for the passage of constitutional amendments.
“I hope there is concrete progress in constitutional reform this time, because there is a consensus [between the DPP and the KMT] on lowering the voting age to 18 and adjustments to the threshold for at-large legislative seats,” Tsai said in response to media queries before entering the meeting room. “I hope the DPP and the KMT caucuses can speed up handling the amendments, so that they may be passed before the end of this session [on Tuesday].”
However, Tsai added that she was not fully confident that the amendments would pass, as the KMT caucus is insisting that the amendments be passed as a package, including disputed ones such as absentee voting and legislative consent to the premier’s nomination.
“The DPP believes that different constitutional amendment proposals reflect different political ideologies and values, and therefore should be handled separately,” Tsai said. “Any political party that considers constitutional reform its mission should not kidnap social consensus.”
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) agreed with Tsai, saying that constitutional reform tops the DPP’s must-do list in this legislative session.
Asked about Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) campaign to represent the KMT in next year’s presidential elections, Tsai said that, as a female politician, she would give Hung her best wishes.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to