The legislative caucuses yesterday agreed to start the new legislative session on Friday next week, and have Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) give an administrative report and answer lawmakers’ questions.
Members of the four caucuses convened to discuss the new session’s starting date.
The Constitution stipulates that a legislative session must begin within a month of lawmakers being inaugurated, meaning that the new session must begin before Feb. 27, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said, adding that they chose from three dates: Tuesday next week, Friday next week and Feb. 25.
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
Friday is the most suitable time, as the Executive Yuan is scheduled to sponsor a special relief bill for the COVID-19 outbreak in China, Ker said.
New Power Party (NPP) caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said that if the session were to start on Tuesday next week, agencies drafting the bill could fine-tune it according to lawmakers’ suggestions during the question-and-answer session.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus whip Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) echoed Chiu’s remarks.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said that starting the session on Tuesday would give lawmakers more time to review the proposal.
Ker said that agencies tasked with disease prevention are busy and asked the other caucuses to give them time to monitor the situation.
KMT caucus secretary-general Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said that his caucus agreed to the session starting on Friday on the condition that the Executive Yuan delivers a special written report on efforts to contain COVID-19.
Ker commended Chiang’s proposal, saying that it is the Executive Yuan’s duty to add content on disease prevention efforts to its report, which was delivered to the legislature before the outbreak.
Su should set aside time in his oral report to talk about the government’s efforts to combat the disease, Ker said.
After the TPP and NPP caucuses accepted Chiang’s proposal, Legislative Speaker Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) announced the new session’s starting date, and that Su would give an administrative report that is to include a presentation on efforts to contain COVID-19.
The caucuses are to issue a joint statement on that day to urge the WHO to allow Taiwan’s participation in the world health body as COVID-19 spreads globally.
Each caucus is to appoint a representative to discuss the wording of the resolution, which is to be signed by all caucuses on Thursday next week and issued during a plenary session the following day.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS