The legislature was idle for the entire day yesterday as the three Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers boycotted a question-and-answer session because of their discontent over the government’s decision to conditionally allow imports of US beef.
TSU lawmakers Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信), Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) and Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) occupied the podium on the legislative floor and demanded discussion of their motion to speed up deliberations on amendments to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法).
The amendments were referred by a plenary session on Friday to the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee for review, while the TSU asked for a reconsideration to skip the preliminary procedures to counter the pace of the government lifting the import ban.
Hsu accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of “arbitrarily making the decision,” “[holding] the legislature and lawmakers in contempt” and “[showing] a callous disregard for public health.”
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) refused to deal with the motion, citing the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Yuan (立法院議事規則), which stipulates that motions must be proposed on the first day of the two-day session, which was on Friday. Wang blasted the TSU lawmakers for their “unfamiliarity” with procedural rules and said they were just “making a show in front of the media.”
Cabinet officials left the session with the permission of Wang after 11am and did not show up in the afternoon. The session was dismissed at 5:30pm.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
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Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
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