Saying the financial memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with Beijing on Monday was signed “in a surreptitious way,” the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday demanded that the agreement be deliberated at the legislature.
The DPP criticized the government for compromising the nation’s sovereignty as the MOU was signed under Beijing’s “one China” framework, adding that it held the legislature in contempt for keeping the contents of the MOU secret.
It said the MOU would harm the local finance sector and that only Chinese lenders would benefit from the deal.
“How the signing of the MOU was handled proves that Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) lied when he said last week that he would show respect for the legislature,” DPP Policy Division Deputy Executive-Secretary Liu Chien-hsin (劉建忻) said.
Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Sean Chen (陳冲) announced unexpectedly at 6:15pm on Monday that the commission had completed the signing of the MOU with its Chinese counterpart at 6pm via a document exchange.
It happened just a few hours after officials discussed the issue with lawmakers at the legislature’s Finance and Economics committees.
The agreement was signed in the name of financial supervision representatives on the Taiwanese and Chinese side to avoid the official title of the two regulators, which carries the phrases “Executive Yuan” and “China” respectively.
Liu said the manner in which the MOU was signed dovetailed with Beijing’s “one China framework.”
DPP caucus whip Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) said the manner in which Taiwan was referred to in the agreement suggested an “abandonment of Taiwan’s sovereignty.”
“Mainland [China] is a geographical term, as is Taiwan. Taiwan’s status as a nation was downgraded,” Chai said.
Pan Meng-an (潘孟安), another DPP caucus whip, said the government signed the deal with China “at the pace of a clap of thunder that left no one enough time to cover their ears” and was like “slapping the face of the legislature” as lawmakers were mulling possible safeguard measures to protect local lenders and the public.
“The [lifting of restrictions] on US beef became effective spontaneously, without legislative approval, as did the financial MOU with China. Will [the government’s plan to sign an economic cooperative and framework agreement] be next?” Pan asked.
DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) criticized the government for paying no attention to lawmakers and people who had doubts over the impact of the MOU.
“We worry that someday we will wake up in the morning and find the [Chinese] flag flying outside the Presidential Office,” Wang said.
Liu asked that the government send the MOU to the legislature for deliberation to ensure that the agreement will not favor Chinese lenders more than local banks and that the personal data of bank customers will not be abused under the deal’s information-sharing mechanism.
Wu, however, dismissed the criticism, saying the government had ensured the country’s dignity in the agreement signed on the basis of equality.
“It would be better if the name of our side had been attached with ‘Executive Yuan’ as it was acceptable to us that ‘China’ was put in front of the other side’s title. However, the other side would rather not mention them. Given which, that both sides call each other ‘Taiwan’ and ‘Mainland’ conforms with the principles of equality and respect,” Wu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said the commission had failed to fully respect the legislature.
“[The FSC] should not have concealed the information from the legislature or have been disrespectful to the legislature, because this will cause serious problems afterwards by having a negative impact on trust between the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan,” Lee told reporters. “This will also make it more difficult for the ECFA [economic cooperation framework agreement] to clear the legislative floor.”
KMT caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) rebutted the DPP’s criticism, saying that the FSC had briefed the legislature.
“The legislature has held 17 briefings, so basically [the FSC] has shown respect to the legislature [and] everything was ripe for signing the MOU as soon as possible,” Lu said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a