KMT needs to rethink its role
A few days ago, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), along with other lawmakers, submitted a bill to amend the Budget Act (預算法). The proposal would require special budgets put forth by the executive branch to undergo legislative approval, while removing several provisions in the act. If an emergency occurred, nothing could be done to directly push through a special budget.
Were Hsu’s amendment to pass, Hualien County, struck by a massive earthquake on April 3 — the constituency most severely affected by the temblor, represented by KMT caucus convener and former Hualien County commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) — and other potential disaster zones would be unable to access immediate response funds and resources.
The KMT lawmakers in this legislative session have proposed several constitutionally debilitating and chaos-inducing bills in the name of “legislative reform.”
They are incapable of picking up on the public pulse.
The Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation’s latest political party survey showed that KMT support is dropping, falling to about 10 percent below that of the Democratic Progressive Party. Last month’s My-Formosa.com poll showed that satisfaction with the KMT had fallen the most, whereas dissatisfaction with the party had risen the most.
It goes to show that the KMT — the largest opposition party — has since the beginning of the new legislative session on Feb. 1 put nothing forth except a series of offbeat, hubris-fueled bills. The KMT’s absurd political behavior is a slap in the face of public opinion.
It is a given that Taiwan’s opposition parties should serve as a check on the governing party, but acting in a supervisory capacity should be based on helping Taiwan’s national development. The KMT should not give the public the impression that it exists only to be a troublemaker. From the KMT chairman downward, each tier of its public officials and even supporters ought to take note of public sentiment and fight to advance Taiwan’s interests.
The KMT should pay no heed to Chinese Communist Party directives, which make it appear as if it is helping China to annex Taiwan.
If not, the KMT would be walking a thorny path if it wishes to gain a majority in the central government.
Chiu Ping-chin
Taipei
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hypersonic missile carried a simple message to the West over Ukraine: Back off, and if you do not, Russia reserves the right to hit US and British military facilities. Russia fired a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik,” or Hazel Tree, at Ukraine on Thursday in what Putin said was a direct response to strikes on Russia by Ukrainian forces with US and British missiles. In a special statement from the Kremlin just after 8pm in Moscow that day, the Russian president said the war was escalating toward a global conflict, although he avoided any nuclear
Would China attack Taiwan during the American lame duck period? For months, there have been worries that Beijing would seek to take advantage of an American president slowed by age and a potentially chaotic transition to make a move on Taiwan. In the wake of an American election that ended without drama, that far-fetched scenario will likely prove purely hypothetical. But there is a crisis brewing elsewhere in Asia — one with which US president-elect Donald Trump may have to deal during his first days in office. Tensions between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have been at
US President-elect Donald Trump has been declaring his personnel picks for his incoming Cabinet. Many are staunchly opposed to China. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Trump’s nomination to be his next secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, said that since 2000, China has had a long-term plan to destroy the US. US Representative Mike Waltz, nominated by Trump to be national security adviser, has stated that the US is engaged in a cold war with China, and has criticized Canada as being weak on Beijing. Even more vocal and unequivocal than these two Cabinet picks is Trump’s nomination for
An article written by Uber Eats Taiwan general manager Chai Lee (李佳穎) published in the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) on Tuesday said that Uber Eats promises to engage in negotiations to create a “win-win” situation. The article asserted that Uber Eats’ acquisition of Foodpanda would bring about better results for Taiwan. The National Delivery Industrial Union (NDIU), a trade union for food couriers in Taiwan, would like to express its doubts about and dissatisfaction with Lee’s article — if Uber Eats truly has a clear plan, why has this so-called plan not been presented at relevant
RSS