A legislative committee yesterday failed to reach a consensus on absentee voting for the presidential election but agreed to leave the presidential candidates' birthplace out of the election bulletin.
The Home and Nations Committee approved the amendment to Article 44 of the President and Vice President Election and Recall Law (
The article states that the Central Election Commission must print personal information about the presidential and vice presidential candidates on the election bulletin, including their place of birth. Chu proposed that birthplace be left out.
Democratic Progressive Party DPP Legislator Kuo Jeng-liang (郭正亮) dismissed the legal revision as a "a clumsy denial resulting in self-exposure," adding he had forgotten that former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was born in Hong Kong until he saw Chu's proposal.
DPP legislative whip Wang Sing-nan (
Wang threatened to stage a boycott if the KMT insisted on putting it to a vote.
DPP Legislator Kao Chien-chih (
Chu said if the DPP was so keen on holding a referendum on the KMT's assets then it should also hold a referendum on President Chen Shui-bian's (
KMT Legislator Her Jyh-huei (
Also shelved was an amendment to Article 70 proposed by People First Party (PFP) Legislator Wu Ching-chih (
Wu proposed that the president and vice president could be subject to a recall if they failed to serve less than one year of their term.
Committee members failed to come to an agreement on absentee voting and resolved to discuss the issue at a future date. They requested that the Central Election Commission map out a concrete plan before the end of August.
KMT Legislator Su Chi (
The committee also agreed to send the amendments proposed by KMT Legislator Wu Den-yi (
Cross-party negotiations, however, must be requested to seek a consensus before the amendments proceed to a full-house meeting.
Wu and Shen had said that an administrative vote recount should be held if a candidate wins the presidential election by less than a 1 percent margin.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
RSS