Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Legislator Lin Yi-chun (林憶君) was this morning voted cochair of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, becoming the only from her party to lead a committee this session thanks to backing from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The eight committees of the Legislative Yuan met today to vote on new chairs, with each committee led by one legislator from the ruling party and another from the opposition.
The leadership of the Foreign and National Defense Committee was appointed to Lin and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇).
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
In the last session, the KMT ceded the opposition chair of the Internal Administration Committee to independent Legislator May Chin (高金素梅). No TPP member chaired a committee in the previous session, although in the last legislature, then-TPP caucus convener Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) led the Transportation Committee for a session.
Lin said she is thankful to the KMT for allowing her to assume the position, and she hopes to live up to expectations as the TPP and KMT cooperate rationally and pragmatically to oversee legislative affairs.
Asked afterward if the budget would be cut for the Indigenous Defense Submarine program, Lin said that legislators would increase discussion and investigation of the matter.
The former head of the Indigenous Submarine Program, Admiral Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光), is the older brother of TPP Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊). Asked if this would impact budget cuts, Lin said not to jump to conclusions and that the budget would be closely supervised by legislators.
Lin did not clarify if this latest cooperation between the TPP and KMT was decided yesterday or today, but said that she respects the agreement and decision of the coalition.
Asked if any conditions were placed on cooperation between the parties, Lin declined to comment.
TPP caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) was seen greeting legislators in today’s meeting.
Asked if his attendance was to finalize an agreement between the two parties, Lin said that Huang Kuo-chang is her superior and his attendance was not out of the ordinary.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening 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) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
RSS