The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said yesterday it was ready to go head-to-head with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus and would make every effort to block several bills lined up for this week’s legislative agenda.
A proposed amendment to the Act Governing the Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) is scheduled for review in today’s Internal Administration Committee meeting, as well as a proposed amendment to the University Act (大學法), which will be reviewed at the Education and Culture Committee meeting.
If the proposals pass, universities in Taiwan could begin recruiting graduate students from China.
Voicing the caucus’ opposition to allowing Chinese students to study in Taiwan, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said it was obvious the KMT caucus scheduled the review of the two bills at the same time to restrict DPP legislators from voicing their opinions.
Ker said he had instructed all DPP legislators in the two meetings to make their stance known.
A controversial amendment to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) is scheduled for tomorrow’s legislative plenary session.
The DPP described the proposal as a prelude to martial law, saying that it would hand full power over protests to an authoritarian government.
The amendment proposed by the Cabinet requires protest organizers to notify police of a protest’s time, location and parade route five days in advance and stipulates that violators could be fined up to NT$50,000 (US$1,500). Police would have the right to ban a rally or change its route if they believed it would jeopardize national security, social order or the public interest, the proposed amendment said. The amendment would also give police the right to break up any rally that blocked traffic.
Meanwhile, Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) will brief the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on the third round of cross-strait talks on Wednesday and Thursday.
The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has said there is no need for National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) to attend the meetings because Su is an aide, not a decision-maker.
Ker said that the DPP caucus had asked Su to brief the legislature on Wednesday and Thursday and that if Su failed to appear on the floor, he and the government would be in contempt of the Constitution.
“Chiang skipped a briefing to the legislature before he went to China for the cross-strait talks [late last month] and after the talks Su is refusing to present the government’s stance on cross-strait polices,” Ker said. “The government has totally neglected the legislature’s power to monitor significant cross-strait policies.”
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