The review of a proposed casino act was placed on hold yesterday as lawmakers opposed to the legislation demanded more time to study all the relevant information.
Legislators from the transportation, economic and judiciary committees were yesterday scheduled to review the act governing the management of casino resorts (觀光賭場管理條例) bill proposed by the Executive Yuan.
They were also to consider two similar drafts proposed by Independent Legislator Chen Hsuen-sheng (陳雪生) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元).
They were also supposed to review an amendment to the International Airport Park Development Act (國際機場園區發展條例) proposed by several legislators including KMT Legislator Chen Ken-te (陳根德), which would allow casinos to be built within the boundaries of the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project.
According to the proposed amendment, casinos would be located in the airport’s free trade zone, and people entering them must hold passports and may be exempt from paying customs tax.
At the meeting yesterday, lawmakers opposing the bill were angered by the non-appearance of Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時). They said they would not review the acts until Yeh came to the committee.
After Yeh arrived, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators demanded more time to study the proposed bills and asked Yeh to clarify the position of the Executive Yuan on casino resorts.
Yeh had said earlier that the revenue generated by a casino resort in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport could help fund the construction of a state-of-the-art airport in Matsu, which many legislators interpreted to mean that the Cabinet was considering the building of casinos on Taiwan proper rather than the nation’s outlying islands.
However, Executive Yuan secretary-general Chen Wei-jen (陳威仁) was reported to have said that the government is only allowing casinos to be built on the outlying islands, as stated in the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例).
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said Chen Ken-te’s proposed amendment was problematic because it would “give other free-trade zones around the nation a legal basis to build casinos.”
DPP Legislators Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) and Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) asked how lawmakers were supposed to review these bills when they had yet to see the minutes of a public hearing on them, which was held on Wednesday.
DPP Legislator Chen Jie-ju (陳節如) said that when Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) was the Minister of Transportation and Communications, he had said that casinos must be strictly regulated by a specific government agency, which must also have the right to enforce laws comparable to that of the police.
“However, I have seen none of these items mentioned in the draft act,” she said.
In response, Yeh said the proposed act was drafted following the passage of the Offshore Islands Development Act.
Outlying islands that get receive a positive result on a referendum are able to build casinos, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS