The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday said it would submit a proposal to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) that would require all political negotiations with China to be put to a national referendum.
The caucus’ draft amendment proposes granting the Executive Yuan the authority to hold a referendum on negotiations between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China, DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told a press conference.
A legally binding national referendum would also be required before and after all negotiations to ensure the government has a public mandate to engage in bilateral talks and that the results do not jeopardize Taiwan’s national interests, Ker said.
Photo: CNA
The DPP called on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) not to block the proposal in the legislature’s Procedure Committee, as the KMT caucus has threatened.
KMT caucus whip Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲) said the party opposed revising the rules.
Chao said the DPP proposal was “unnecessary” given that the ability to initiate a national plebiscite on a major policy or to put a major policy to a referendum was already within the scope of the Referendum Act.
Paragraph 3 of Article 2 of the act stipulates that the “initiative of referendum of important policies” is one of the matters to which the act already applies, she said.
The KMT will block the DPP’s proposal by preventing it from clearing the Procedure Committee, she said.
“We simply must block the DPP’s proposal,” she said.
Chao said some amendments to the act previously put forward by the DPP suggested bringing the threshold for a national referendum down to 2.12 million signatures.
“If those proposals pass the legislature, a minority of people would be able to stage a referendum, which is why the KMT has stalled the DPP’s amendments,” Chao said.
The blocking of the proposal by the KMT would show that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pledge to hold a referendum before proceeding with talks with China on a peace accord was an empty promise and a tool to win votes, DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the KMT should “sit down with the DPP” to collaboratively and substantially establish a sound and complete mechanism for referendums.
Tsai, the DPP’s presidential candidate, accused Ma of “recklessness and inconsistency” in mentioning a peace accord with China within a decade, adding that the idea could put Taiwan’s sovereignty and democratic values at risk and leave future generations with no freedom of choice.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has also questioned the objectives and motives behind Ma’s proposal and said he agreed the Referendum Act should be amended.
Taiwan announced the cessation of hostilities with China in 1991, when the “Period of Mobilization for the Suppression of Communist Rebellion” was terminated, Lee said, adding that the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) was passed the following year and has since been the law governing cross-strait engagement, so there was no need for a peace agreement.
However, even China is against the proposal and, given the high threshold regulated by the law, it would be very difficult to pass any referendum in Taiwan, he said.
Liu Chien-sin (劉建忻), deputy director of policy research for the DPP, said the party wants to make sure cross-strait talks are not dictated by one person or one political party.
The amendment would put clear regulations in law and reaffirm that all cross-strait engagements be conducted through a democratic process, he said.
Meanwhile, the DPP asked for clarification regarding Ma’s alleged dispatch of “secret emissary” Kao Huei (高輝), director of the KMT’s Mainland Affairs Department, to China at the weekend.
The DPP asked whether Kao had met senior Chinese officials during meetings on Friday and Saturday, and whether he had told Beijing the initiative was only a campaign tactic and that no referendum would be held in the future, DPP spokesperson Liang Wen-jie (梁文傑) told a press conference.
The KMT on Sunday denied Kao had been sent to China to discuss those matters.
Liang also said Kao must answer whether the KMT has promised to engage in negotiations for a peace agreement under the spirit of the Guidelines for National Unification, which was written by the National Unification Council.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS