Opposition lawmakers on Tuesday used their majority to pass the second reading of parts of a legislative reform bill that would allow government officials to be fined up to NT$200,000 for “contempt of legislature” offenses.
Five items passed by a show of hands before Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) called an afternoon recess. Legislators were to return at 2:30pm to continue deliberation.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party lawmakers arrived at 5:30am to ensure they could occupy the podium when the doors opened at 7am.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Although there were no physical altercations like the last time the legislature discussed the reform bills on Friday last week, both sides shouted slogans across the chamber while displaying signs and banners.
The items that passed the second reading would bar government officials appearing before the legislature from asking questions back to lawmakers, as well as require officials to respond to questions and provide requested information.
Such acts considered to be in “contempt of legislature” would be punishable by a fine of NT$20,000 to NT$200,000.
Still to be discussed are amendments that would add “contempt of legislature” charges to criminal law, as well as expand legislative powers of investigation.
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
RSS