The Legislative Yuan’s eight committees yesterday elected new conveners, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) taking 10 seats, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) taking five, and an alliance between the People First Party (PFP) and the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union taking one.
The DPP and KMT caucuses each appointed a lawmaker to serve as convener on six of the committees.
DPP Legislator Chang Hung-lu (張宏陸) and KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) were appointed to cochair the Internal Administration Committee, while the Economics Committee is to be cochaired by DPP Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) and KMT Legislator Yosi Takun.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
DPP Legislator Shih Yi-fang (施義芳) and KMT Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) are to take turns presiding over the Finance Committee, while DPP Legislator Lee Kuen-tse (李昆澤) and KMT Legislator Chen Hsueh-shen (陳雪生) are to rotate the duty of chairing the Transportation Committee.
The Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee is to be cochaired by DPP Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) and KMT Legislator Hsu Chih-jung (徐志榮), while the Education and Culture Committee is to be jointly presided over by DPP Legislator Frida Tsai (蔡培慧) and May Chin (高金素梅), representing the PFP-Non-Partisan Solidarity Union alliance.
Following a vote, the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, is to be cochaired by DPP legislators Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) and Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), while the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee is to be presided over by DPP legislators Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) and Chou Chun-mi (周春米).
Chou Chun-mi said that the DPP caucus is to send the Executive Yuan’s draft Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748 enforcement act to cross-caucus negotiations, allowing it to bypass committee review.
It would be reviewed alongside other versions of the bill tendered by lawmakers, she said.
Other issues her committee would focus on during this session include bills concerning judicial reform and those regarding penalties for drunk driving and child abuse, she said.
Regarding calls to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) in the wake of the chaos in last year’s referendums, DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said he and DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) have been assigned to hold public hearings on the issue.
The DPP caucus would draw up draft amendments to the act and wait for the Cabinet to submit its version of draft amendments before integrating the two, he said.
Additional reporting by Su Fun-her
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai