The Legislative Yuan yesterday sent Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yu-jen’s (陳玉珍) draft amendments to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例), as well as draft amendments to the Act Governing the Settlement of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例) proposed by KMT Legislator Yu Hao (游灝) directly to the second reading with the support of the Taiwan People’s Party.
Chen’s proposed amendment concerns the establishment of a “Free Trade Zone” of outlying islands, while Yu’s proposed amendments seek to exclude the China Youth Corps from being classified as an affiliated organization of a political party.
Provisions of Article 18-1 of the development act are insufficient to address the development needs of outlying islands, Chen said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
To boost economic growth and industrial development in the areas, to improve regional economic and trade integration, and facilitate the flow of people, goods and technology, the proposal aims to leverage the geographical advantages of the islands, she said.
With the spirit of “pilot implementation” for offshore islands, the proposed changes seek to find new economic drivers for the region, she said.
The idea is to designate areas on the islands as “free-trade demonstration zones,” with authority for their establishment and management granted to local governments of the islands.
Meanwhile, Yu said that the proposed amendments to the party assets act reflect that the China Youth Corps was the first civil organization in Taiwan to transform into a “service-oriented social enterprise focused on public welfare.”
However, it has been wrongly classified by the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee as a KMT-affiliated organization, resulting in all of its assets being frozen, he said.
This has severely infringed upon the autonomy and normal development of public welfare organizations, he added.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus criticized Chen’s proposal as allegedly helping China to whitewash the origin of products.
DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that Chen’s proposal would open a backdoor for Chinese products through the so-called “free-trade zones,” paving the way for China’s “one country, two systems.”
The DPP accused Yu of advocating the proposed changes as part of an attempt of protect KMT assets.
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