The Taiwan Rural Front (TRF) and farmers yesterday protested the passing of proposed revisions to the second reading of the Land Expropriation Act (土地徵收條例) and called Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) a “liar” for failing to include certain items into the Cabinet version revisions that they said he had promised.
“When meeting with us in July, Wu promised that he would hold further talks on revisions to the Land Expropriation Act to listen to what farming rights advocacy groups and farmers had to say,” said Liao Pen-chuan (廖本全), an associate professor at National Taipei University’s Department of Real Estate and Built Environment, at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.
“Months have passed by, and the next thing we heard about the law is that the proposed revisions have been incorporated into the second reading without going through the first reading process,” Liao said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Liao, a TRF member, was one of those who spoke to Wu in a meeting at the Executive Yuan where the TRF staged a protest in July.
According to Taiwan’s legislative system, a proposed bill or amendment is introduced to the legislature in a first reading, in which the lawmaker or government official who proposed the bill or the amendment introduces the amendments before it goes to further committee review and debate in a second reading.
A proposed bill or amendment is often a foregone conclusion by the time it reaches the second reading, after which it is sent to the general assembly at the Legislative Yuan for the third reading and a final vote before it becomes law.
“Wu is practically a liar, because he never called a meeting with non-governmental organizations [NGO] as he promised and sent the proposed amendments straight for a second reading on Thursday,” Liao said.
Thomas Chan (詹順貴), another member of the TRF and an attorney who represents farmers and farming activists in lawsuits, agreed with Liao that Wu is a liar, but said it was for a different reason.
“We NGOs also proposed our version of revisions to the law, which included clauses requiring developers to clarify the ‘necessity’ and ‘public interests’ involved before a land expropriation deal could be approved by the government,” Chan said. “We also wanted third-party real-estate appraisers to estimate the value of land to be seized by the government.”
While Wu said he accepted the TRF’s ideas, “none of what we wanted made it into the Cabinet--proposed amendments,” Chan said.
Miaoli County’s Wanbao Self-Help Association president Chen Hsing-hsiung (陳幸雄) called on lawmakers and the government to include clauses proposed by farming rights groups to better protect people’s rights to their lands.
Wanbao Borough (灣寶) of Miaoli County’s Houlong Township (後龍) was one of the farming villages facing government seizure of their land for development projects.
The Wanbao crisis was resolved when the Ministry of the Interior rejected the development project, but Wanbao residents are still familiar faces supporting others struggling against land expropriation.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
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,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS