Legislators from across party lines today agreed to place a reconsideration motion for the central government’s general budget, which continues to be stalled, at the top of the agenda for the current plenary session.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) said that he would convene another cross-party negotiation next week.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) reportedly decided to send the general budget to committee for review today, people familiar with the matter said, asking to remain anonymous.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
However, the party failed to reach a consensus concerning several major bills, they said.
Asked if the KMT stalled the budget because of the meeting between KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) today, a KMT legislator said the party caucus had reached a consensus that the Executive Yuan should countersign and execute bills passed by the Legislative Yuan.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has refused to countersign legal amendments passed by the opposition-controlled legislature, due to what he has said were flaws in their constitutionality.
Before today’s legislative session, Cho said he hoped everyone could work together to achieve positive outcomes.
The central government's general budget of NT$3.035 trillion (US$95.65 billion) for this fiscal year has been stuck in the opposition-controlled legislature since January, with only a small fraction approved for funding in areas such as public transportation, road infrastructure and maternity subsidies.
The Executive Yuan is expected to administer according to the law and follow constitutional provisions, KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said after the party’s caucus meeting before the plenary session.
The KMT has once again gone back on its word and destroyed its own credibility, even after the general budget was sent to the committee, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) wrote on Facebook.
It is also continuing to delay, block and cut a pressing arms procurement budget, she added.
Moreover, the Taiwan People’s Party has proposed extending the legislative session by two months to July 31, she said, adding that the session has only just begun and lawmakers have only worked for a few days before seeking an extension.
She questioned the logic of extending the session if neither the general budget nor arms procurement bills are being reviewed.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han and Fion Khan
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS