Opposition party lawmakers have severely harmed national security by cutting military spending, blocking efforts to bolster defense and pandering to Beijing’s interest through China-friendly bills, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
Over the past year, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators introduced numerous bills the DPP believe to be friendly toward China or would weaken Taiwan, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) said.
KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has called for the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) to be annulled to stop prosecution of proxies and collaborators of Beijing, while KMT legislators Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) and Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) are seeking to allow retired military officials to visit China and that those who participate in Chinese “united front” events to not face penalties, Wu said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Opposition party lawmakers are continuing on a similar path this year, slashing NT$150 billion (US$4.95 billion) earmarked for the Cabinet’s plan to strengthen national defense resilience, DPP spokeswoman Han Ying (韓瑩) said.
The cuts would embolden China to continue its military intrusions into around Taiwan, Wu said.
The KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party have worked to concentrate power in the legislature at expense of other government branches, by obstructing the Constitutional Court, creating political turmoil, blocking DPP bills related to defense and national security 377 times against, and slashing funding for the military and weapon upgrading, Han said.
“Now we are dealing with negotiations on tariffs and international trade, while the KMT is pushing to set up free-trade zones for outlying islands close to China’s coast, which would open up investments from China, providing a conduit for origin fraud of Chinese export goods,” she said.
“It would destroy the excellent reputation built up over the decades for made in Taiwan products and erode Taiwan’s standing in trade negotiations,” she added.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
RSS