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.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from