The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has fallen behind in realizing promises to pass legislation on the supervision of cross-strait negotiations, protesters said yesterday outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
A handful of Economic Democracy Union demonstrators brandished long, red Lunar New Year posters calling for the DPP to resume progress on the legislation.
“It is time for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the DPP to realize their promises, because it has been nearly three years since the Sunflower movement and this has dragged on too long,” union spokesman Chien Nien-yu (簡年佑) said.
Photo: CNA
A formal legislative review has yet to begin for the articles, which are intended to guarantee public participation in cross-strait negotiations and were a key demand of Sunflower movement protesters.
Tsai had promised to promote the passage of the legislation in a 2015 speech announcing her candidacy for president.
While cross-strait negotiations have largely been frozen since Tsai took office in May last year, passage of the legislation remains critical because of the possibility for a new opening or pressure from China following the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party’s 19th National Party Congress later this year, making the next legislative session an important “breathing period” to consider new negotiation safeguards, Chien said.
“Completing a system for public participation will ensure that any harm to our democracy from future agreements can be minimized,” Chien said. “We can avoid the possibility of the government undermining our democratic foundation for the sake of economic interests or the promise of some kind of political negotiations.”
While Mainland Affairs Council Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) last month promised to make passage of the legislation a priority, little progress should be expected without an active response from the DPP caucus, he said, adding that the council had made similar promises before the previous legislative session.
No official version of supervisory legislation by the Executive Yuan was sent to the Legislative Yuan prior to the conclusion of the past legislative session last month, Chien said, adding that changes to draft amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) have raised further concerns about the DPP’s commitment to guaranteeing public participation in cross-strait negotiations.
The party originally promised to include a referendum requirement for cross-strait political agreements in the amendments, but such a provision was later deleted from the current draft bill, he said.
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number
RSS