The legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee on Thursday approved a preliminary review of a bill to establish a national space center.
The committee granted the draft national space center establishment act “nondepartmental public body status,” and if passed, it would charge the Ministry of Science and Technology with heading up the planning and execution of national projects regarding aerospace technology.
The sector is one of the nation’s six strategic industries as defined by the government, and its development would help improve national security, economic development, public welfare and the advancement of technology in Taiwan, Minister of Science and Technology Wu Cheng-chung (吳政忠) said in a report to the committee.
Photo: CNA
The center would be tasked with augmenting the nation’s research and development capabilities for aerospace technology, and consult the government on creating aerospace policies, it said.
The center would also lead negotiations on space technology transfers and usage, as well as facilitate international collaborations, based on changes proposed by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Hsiu-pao (陳秀寶) during the review.
The center is to push for the development of Taiwan’s aerospace industry and provide technical assistance to related industries, and consultation on the drafting of laws to govern the industry, according to the updated draft.
The center would also be in charge of selecting sites for rocket launches, reviewing and authorizing applications for launches, and registering launch vehicles, a ministry report said.
The center would also oversee efforts to foster talent in aerospace engineering, promote the education of space science and handle assorted affairs related to space, it said.
Legislators were undecided about the ratio of the center’s board members and supervisors, an issue they are to address in cross-caucus discussions, they said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened 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), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
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