The Control Yuan today filed a petition at the Constitutional Court for a constitutional interpretation of budget cuts passed by the Legislative Yuan.
Yang Chang-hsien (楊昌憲), director of the Control Yuan's Department of Supervisory Investigation, accompanied by his attorney, Wang Shou-yen (王首雁), presented the petition, but declined to speak to the media.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
In a news release issued on Thursday last week, the Control Yuan said that the Legislative Yuan's "substantial" 96 percent cut to its operational expenses left the nation's highest supervisory body just NT$10 million (US$302,821) for the year.
The budget cuts constitute a breach of the principle of separation of powers and "severely endanger" the Control Yuan's ability to carry out its essential monitoring duties, it said.
The Control Yuan said that, despite making adjustments, the funding cuts — which it described as "exceeding reasonable limits" — have already impacted its operations.
The supervisory body, one of five main branches of Taiwan's constitutional government system, is thus seeking a ruling from the court to uphold constitutional principles and ensure its capacity to monitor government actions is preserved, it said.
The Control Yuan's move came after President William Lai (賴清德) promulgated this year's central government budget on Friday in accordance with procedural precedent.
The government budget included cuts imposed by the Legislative Yuan following a rejection of the Executive Yuan's motion to reconsider the budget.
The Control Yuan's budget stands at about NT$1.09 billion, including more than NT$800 million for personnel costs.
The Control Yuan had originally budgeted NT$240 million for operational expenses this year, but the Legislative Yuan slashed that amount by NT$230 million, it said.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
RSS