Last summer, then-Legislative Yuan secretary-general Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) led a delegation to the Czech Republic and Austria for a study tour of their parliaments. In its report, the delegation specifically mentioned that “the issue of construction expansion of the legislative building is yet to be negotiated between the government and the opposition in order to forge a consensus.”
Comparing parliamentary buildings in the Czech Republic and Austria with the legislative building in Taiwan, the delegation said that “the current site of the Legislative Yuan used to be Taipei Second Girls’ High School originally during the Japanese colonial era… The existing space was not designed for parliamentary purposes, and it has long outgrown its utility and is not in conformity with the use of the site today.”
It continued: “Moreover, there are illegally built facilities and part of the site occupies a section that is planned to be used for a road. There is also a lack of space for the public to express their opinions and protests, not to mention the difficulties in renovation and maintenance.”
Article 63 of the Constitution states: “The Legislative Yuan shall have the power to decide by resolution upon statutory or budgetary bills or bills concerning martial law, amnesty, declaration of war, conclusion of peace or treaties, and other important affairs of the State.”
The Legislative Yuan is the meeting place of public opinion, and yet it is in an old school building, which is used as office space and legislative venues for the legislature. Such a state of affairs is, frankly, an embarrassment.
The legislators of the 11th Legislative Yuan took their oath of office in February. In recent months, lawmakers have made more than 300 legislative proposals — including amendments to the Legislative Yuan Organizational Act (立法院組織法), the Legislative Yuan Power Exercise Act (立法院職權行使法) and the Legislator Conduct Act (立法委員行為法), which are about to enter the deliberation stage.
Regrettably, it seems that not much attention has been paid to this old issue of legislative building expansion. It is already 24 years into the new millennium and yet the Legislative Yuan still operates by renting an old building, registered as a school of the Taipei City Government.
The Ministry of National Defense is spending as much as NT$5.4 billion (US$169 million) to build a national military museum in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Who knows how much interest there will be in the museum after construction is completed next year? However, the Legislative Yuan is heavily responsible for reviewing the central government’s budget of more than NT$2 trillion every year. It should have the office space befitting of the highest hall for public opinion.
Instead of fighting over the issue, the ruling and opposition camps could consider repurposing the Dazhi museum as Taiwan’s “capitol hill.” This could not only save taxpayers’ money, but also fulfill the need for a new legislative hall.
Lo Cheng-chung is a professor and director of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Institute of Financial and Economic Law.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention. If it makes headlines, it is because China wants to invade. Yet, those who find their way here by some twist of fate often fall in love. If you ask them why, some cite numbers showing it is one of the freest and safest countries in the world. Others talk about something harder to name: The quiet order of queues, the shared umbrellas for anyone caught in the rain, the way people stand so elderly riders can sit, the
Taiwan’s fall would be “a disaster for American interests,” US President Donald Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday last week, as he warned of the “dramatic deterioration of military balance” in the western Pacific. The Republic of China (Taiwan) is indeed facing a unique and acute threat from the Chinese Communist Party’s rising military adventurism, which is why Taiwan has been bolstering its defenses. As US Senator Tom Cotton rightly pointed out in the same hearing, “[although] Taiwan’s defense spending is still inadequate ... [it] has been trending upwards
After the coup in Burma in 2021, the country’s decades-long armed conflict escalated into a full-scale war. On one side was the Burmese army; large, well-equipped, and funded by China, supported with weapons, including airplanes and helicopters from China and Russia. On the other side were the pro-democracy forces, composed of countless small ethnic resistance armies. The military junta cut off electricity, phone and cell service, and the Internet in most of the country, leaving resistance forces isolated from the outside world and making it difficult for the various armies to coordinate with one another. Despite being severely outnumbered and
Small and medium enterprises make up the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, yet large corporations such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) play a crucial role in shaping its industrial structure, economic development and global standing. The company reported a record net profit of NT$374.68 billion (US$11.41 billion) for the fourth quarter last year, a 57 percent year-on-year increase, with revenue reaching NT$868.46 billion, a 39 percent increase. Taiwan’s GDP last year was about NT$24.62 trillion, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, meaning TSMC’s quarterly revenue alone accounted for about 3.5 percent of Taiwan’s GDP last year, with the company’s
RSS