One of the unwritten truths of Taiwan politics is that the Legislative Yuan is the place where big interests are played out; and the Finance Committee is the center of this wheeling and dealing. This fact was underlined by accusation made against members of the committee yesterday.
With such a reputation, it should come as no surprise that four lawmakers -- including the KMT's Lo Ming-tsai (
Looking back to the beginning of the current session last September, both KMT and DPP political heavyweights managed to paralyze legislative procedures for over a month, as they fought over a single contested seat on the powerful committee, where finance-related laws are formulated, debated and passed.
The deadlock resulted from the fact that too many legislators sought seats on the committee -- 62 lawmakers registered for 21 available seats. As a result, candidates for the committee were forced to draw lots.
The reason behind the Finance Committee's popularity is evident for critics, who say it serves the personal interests of its own members, many of whom are business figures. But the critics also point out that it is a strong counteractive force against Taiwan's democratic development.
One anonymous finance ministry official said that members of the Finance Committee wield a powerful weapon in that if state-run banks, or the finance ministry decline to act according to their requests, they can cut their budgets in return.
Even more disturbing, the official said, was that committee members could demand that banks pour money in their companies, or ask the banks to lend to them at low interest rates.
DPP legislative caucus leader Chen Chi-mai (
Chen added that during this session there are several bills in the works that could have huge potential for conflict-of-interest among lawmakers, including the so-called "trust law," amendments to the gambling article in the Welfare Lottery Law, the Insurance Law and the Land Tax Law.
Critics said the passage of such bills would inevitably help redistribute wealth. Even though independent legislator Lo Fu-chu (
Both Los yesterday denied media reports claiming they have been putting undue pressure on banks to invest in venture capital companies.
Nevertheless, they have already created a precedent for the Legislative Yuan, being the first father-son partnership on the Finance Committee.
On several occasions, Lo Fu-chu has coached his son on the rules of procedure while chairing the Finance Committee.
Reviewing the list of Finance Committee members , most of the KMT legislators actually own or run finance-related business themselves -- figures such as Gary Wang (
Her Jyh-huei (
Her is currently the vice president of Shin Shin Co Ltd, (欣欣大眾), while his wife, Wang Su-yun (王素筠) a former legislator herself, now serves as the president of Chia Hsun Livestock Co Ltd (嘉畜), another Hualon-associated firm.
With such a line-up, critics say it is hardly surprising that the legislature's Finance Committee has been dubbed a "playground for conglomerates."
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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