Two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) referendum proposals on “opposing the abolition of the death penalty” and “opposing martial law” have been placed on the agenda of the legislative plenary session scheduled for tomorrow for discussion before being put to a vote.
The agenda-setting motion was passed on Tuesday in a vote during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Procedure Committee, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) hold a majority.
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) lawmakers on the committee all voted against the motion.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
The proposed referendum on “opposing martial law” comes after President William Lai (賴清德) in March proposed reinstating military trials.
Martial law was imposed from 1949 to 1987 during a period of KMT authoritarian rule prior to Taiwan’s democratization.
The opposition’s push for the two proposals came after the expiration of the one-month negotiation period required for bills involving interparty disputes before a second reading.
On March 25, the KMT and the TPP jointly moved the proposals directly to a second reading without committee review, following an unsuccessful attempt by the DPP to block their inclusion on the legislative agenda.
The DPP proposed a motion during the Procedural Committee meeting asserting that the March 25 legislative session was illegal and asking that the 62 lawmakers from the KMT, the TPP and independents be sent to the Discipline Committee for contravening statutory meeting procedures and disrupting order at the legislature.
The DPP’s proposal was voted down.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,