Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said it would be a progressive step for Taiwan to implement a separate piece of legislation governing same-sex marriage, as many of the nations that have such rules started with civil unions, which would be unprecedented in Asia.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday met separately with groups supporting same-sex marriage and others opposed to it.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) quoted her as saying: “There does not necessarily have to be inherent confrontation between family values and marriage equality.”
Huang said Tsai asked Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to help construct a “conversation mechanism at the Presidential Office level” that could continue inviting both camps to communicate further.
Chao yesterday praised Tsai’s move, saying setting up the platform would be a good start.
“My take is that even if [what we in the end have is] a separate law, it would be considered progressive, as no other Asian nation has similar legislation,” he said, adding that of the 23 nations that have legalized same-sex marriage, “21, such as France and Germany, started out with civil unions.”
“In other words, the definition of marriage was not initially challenged and changed; what was first put forward was measures to support and guarantee rights to those who wanted to form families and were willing to vow fidelity to their partner, be they heterosexual or homosexual,” Chao said.
If society in general still “cannot understand or is not yet accustomed to” same-sex marriage, what the government should do is probably “not challenge the definition of marriage in the Civil Code, but establish separate legislation covering civil unions with legal rights extended to homosexual couples who are willing to form a family,” he said.
Chao asked the Ministry of Justice to make the communication platform a “legislative paradigm,” rather than seeing people deeply divided and shouting denunciations at each other on the streets.
Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said that Chao’s suggestions “could serve as a reference for the ministry.”
Tsai made two directives on Saturday, Chiu said.
“One was that the discussion of family values and personal ideas of happiness is to be facilitated by the vice president; the other is that the ministry is to have legal experts from both camps discuss the issue via the platform set up by the ministry,” Chiu said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS