The second day of a legislative meeting scheduled to review the cross-strait service trade pact was marked with clashes and condemnations between lawmakers of the two political camps.
“There may be differences in opinion between different parties, but these differences should be resolved through negotiation, not violence,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) told a press conference yesterday. “We condemn the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] caucus for using violence against our caucus office director Chiang Kui-fang [江桂芳].”
Lin was referring to a scuffle which occurred in the afternoon, when DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) attempted to unplug a loudspeaker box belonging to the KMT caucus, as KMT lawmakers were speaking through loudspeakers, trying to interrupt the meeting.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“I did not use violence against Chiang, I was trying to stop the KMT from interrupting the meeting. Chiang wanted to stop me from what I was doing, and I had to defend myself,” Chiu said.
As the tussle between Chiu and Chiang ensued, legislators from both camps rushed over, adding to more pushing and shoving.
Amid the chaos, KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) collapsed and was rushed to the health center.
Photo: CNA
She was later diagnosed with several bone fractures in her arms and feet.
The conflict erupted as soon as DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), who presided over the meeting, announced the beginning the meeting at 9am.
About one minute before the official start, Lin and KMT legislators delivered a petition, asking that the meeting to reject the official record of Wednesday’s review of the service trade pact, saying that there should not be a meeting transcript since nothing happened during the meeting.
Chen refused to take the petition, saying the meeting had not started. However, after announcing the beginning of the meeting, he confirmed there were no issues with the transcript of the previous day, despite the verbal and written protest from KMT lawmakers.
As the meeting degenerated into chaos, Chen announced that the meeting would go into recess, and left the podium.
When Legislative Yuan staffers stepped down from the podium with Chen, several KMT legislators — notably Alex Fai (費鴻泰) — ran after them, trying to stop them from leaving, and accused them of not being neutral.
DPP legislators Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) and Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) quickly moved to push Fai away, asking him “not to give staffers trouble.”
The meeting was again paused after the conflict between Chiu and Chiang, with Chen and his DPP colleagues again leaving the meeting room.
As Chen and DPP lawmakers did not return at the scheduled ending of the meeting at 5:30pm, KMT lawmakers declared the meeting adjourned, and said the caucus will hold meetings to review the services trade pact next week, when KMT Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) is to serve as the rotating president of the Internal Administration Committee.
Meanwhile, the DPP caucus accused the KMT of resorting to lies and violence to block the review procedure.
Chen Chi-mai said the KMT caucus has been doing everything it could, including kicking Legislative Yuan staffers and blaming them for violation of neutrality and stealing away the registration form so that lawmakers could not speak in order, to compromise the meeting.
He also rejected the KMT’s claim that he failed to follow regulations and ignored Lin Hung-chih’s motion to reaffirm the proceedings.
“I was ready to accept [Lin’s] proposal, but he seemed to have a change of heart and hesitated. The next thing I knew, the scuffle between lawmakers began and he was never able to propose it again,” Chen Chi-mai said.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS