The legislative caucuses yesterday were notified about discussing a four-point Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) initiative today, of which only a call for National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) to resign passed the Procedural Committee earlier this month.
The initiative, put forth by TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Tuesday for priority discussion, urged the Executive Yuan to request that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) deliver its list of nominees for National Communications Commission (NCC) director-general, deputy director-general and commission members.
The second suggested that the legislature resolve that Wu should tender his resignation, which passed the Procedural Committee and was officially put on the legislature’s agenda.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
The TPP caucus raised a separate issue that urged the legislature to officially rebuke Cho for failing in his role as premier and working to undermine the separation of powers.
The TPP caucus also suggested that the legislature’s Discipline Committee launch an investigation into the actions of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), who it said insulted Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and other legislators, and used his walking stick as a weapon.
Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the NCC list was complete, but that it was undergoing administrative processes.
It would be forwarded to the legislature as soon as due process has been observed, she said.
Regarding the suggestion to reprimand the premier for disregarding the separation of powers, an Executive Yuan source, commenting on condition of anonymity, said that the suggestion was itself an overreach of legislative power.
DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that she respected due observance of procedure, but that the issues discussed lacked legitimacy.
The TPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) are using their legislative majority to pick on and bully select people, she said.
Responding to allegations that he used his walking stick as a weapon, Ker said that the legislative session had ended for the day, but TPP and KMT legislators had carried on the session, an act that he said contravened the Constitution, and he had used his walking stick to knock on the table and remind them of the time.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
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
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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