Two lawmakers were left with facial injuries yesterday after a quarrel over a budget issue turned violent.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Chao-jung (陳朝容) punched Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Hsien-chung (陳憲中) in the legislature's Organic Laws and Statutes Committee. The two lawmakers began grappling with each other, and were twice briefly interrupted when they were pulled apart by other lawmakers.
After the scuffle, Chen Chao-jung's eyes appeared red and swollen, while Chen Hsien-chung was left with scratches and blood beneath his right eye and near the corners of his mouth.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
The committee had gathered to review part of the Ministry of Civil Service's budget for last year, which has been frozen for a year by pan-blue lawmakers in the committee.
Speaking in opposition to the ministry's request to release the budget, Chen Chao-jung said that the ministry had actually implemented the budget without the legislature's consent.
"I urged the committee not to unfreeze the budget, as the ministry totally disregarded the legislature's resolution to freeze the budget," Chen Chao-jung said.
Chen Hsien-chung then walked up to Chen Chao-jung and shouted at him: "How could you be so defiant? You are the wildest lawmaker in the legislature!"
Although Chen Chao-jung started the scuffle, he said that Chen Hsien-chung had attacked him with "unwholesome words."
Later yesterday, the committee decided to keep the budget frozen until lawmakers reach consensus on the bill to reform the pension system for retired government employees.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
RSS