The Presidential Office yesterday declined calls from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) politicians for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to declare a state of emergency over the COVID-19 situation, saying that any contingencies can be addressed by existing legislation.
KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) told a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting that the government should consider issuing emergency presidential orders to provide a legal basis for local governments to arrange or call for disease prevention items and also resolve any questions regarding restrictions imposed on the public.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the KMT said that the government should bar Taiwanese from traveling to countries listed in a Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) level 3 “warning” travel advisory, bar visitors from those nations from entering Taiwan within 30 days of their nations being listed and halt the importation of foreign workers during the pandemic.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said that restrictions under Act 7 of the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Restoration (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例) are questionable and could be infringing on constitutionally guaranteed rights.
However, such restrictions are well within the parameters of a state of emergency decree, so instead of applying for a constitutional interpretation or filing for an amendment to clarify whether such restrictions are legal, Tsai should just issue an emergency decree and remove all legal doubts, Jang said.
The Presidential Office said emergency decrees should only be issued in cases of national emergencies or during a financial tumult that would otherwise lack a legal basis.
Under the Constitution, any emergency decree issued by the president must be ratified by the Legislative Yuan, the office said.
The post-SARS amendment to the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法) and the special act have provided legal bases for nearly all disease prevention efforts, office spokesperson Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said, adding that an emergency decree was not issued during the SARS outbreak.
Since martial law was lifted in 1987, a state of emergency has only be declared once, after the 921 Earthquake in 1999, Chang said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
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
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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