The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will do whatever it takes to create a more comprehensive referendum law, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
She said the government’s decision on Thursday to veto the party’s petition to launch a referendum on a cross-strait trade pact was “disappointing” and “unacceptable.”
The DPP will appeal the decision and demand a constitutional interpretation if necessary, she said at a press conference in Taipei.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
On Thursday, the Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Committee rejected the DPP’s petition for a referendum on the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) that the government plans to ink with Beijing.
The DPP had hoped to have the nation’s voters answer the question: “Do you agree that the government should put the ECFA that Taiwan signs with China to a referendum?”
Of the 19 members of the 21-member committee who attended Thursday’s review, only four voted in favor of the DPP’s proposal, while two abstained and the rest voted to reject it on the grounds that it is based on a hypothetical situation that does not meet the criteria of the Referendum Act (公投法).
Tsai rejected this line of thinking, saying that holding a referendum on a trade pact that poses potential threats to local industries one year after it goes into effect would be “too little, too late.”
“We can safely conclude that the members of the review committee are either ultra-conservative or hold biased political opinions,” Tsai said, adding that the purpose behind the DPP’s proposal was to highlight the shortcomings of the current Referendum Act.
The crux of the DPP petition, she said, was to urge the government to voluntarily hold referendums on major issues, such as an ECFA, that affect the livelihood of every person in Taiwan.
The ECFA is more than an economic trade deal, and touches upon Taiwan’s status as a sovereign nation, she said.
Also attending the press conference, Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said he suspected the committee was pressured to object to the DPP’s petition to offset the wrath of Beijing about the Dalai Lama’s upcoming visit.
Huang said that if Penghu County can be allowed to hold a referendum on building casinos on the island, it made no sense for the government to block a referendum on an agreement that could affect the lives of all Taiwanese people.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
RSS