Lawmakers yesterday agreed to postpone the review of a number of controversial bills until the end of this year instead of pushing them through before the end of the current legislative session today, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said.
Wang said legislators would not vote on a Cabinet-proposed amendment to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) as public opposition to the bill remained high even after lawmakers had negotiated the content of the bill on four different occasions.
The Cabinet's proposal will allow police to retain the power to break up demonstrations if they think the rally is blocking traffic or disturbs social order. It will also continue to ban rallies from designated areas around government offices, calling them “safe distances” instead of “restricted areas.” Organizers will still be required to notify the police if they plan to stage a demonstration.
Legislators across party lines also resolved to table a bill on reducing carbon emissions until the UN's Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, Wang said.
Legislators agreed to help the two bills clear the legislative floor by the end of this year, Wang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) vowed to negotiate the controversial bills with opposition lawmakers “with more patience” to avoid physical conflict.
He also defended the legislature's performance, saying that lawmakers had been “the most efficient ever” during the spring session.
“A total of 133 bills were passed in the last week of the session,” Lin said.
Lin said legislators preferred not to hold extraordinary sessions to pass more bills.
In related developments, the KMT-dominated legislature voted down DPP proposals requiring the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp to immediately lower the prices of its sugar and cooking oil products and asking state-run Taiwan Power Co to freeze electricity prices this summer.
The legislature also rejected DPP proposals banning officials at government-funded organizations from investing in China and another proposal authorizing the Financial Supervisory Commission to ban Chinese investors from gaining management rights over local financial institutions.
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate