A pair of legislative committees passed draft regulations yesterday that would allow gambling on Taiwan's offshore islands such as Kinmen and Penghu.
In addition, changes to "The Offshore Islands Development Act" would allow all Taiwanese to travel to China through offshore islands.
Currently, under the "small three links," only residents of the Kinmen and Matsu island groups may travel to China.
Lawmakers say the revisions to the Act would help stimulate the economies of the nation's offshore islands.
The draft changes were passed by the Finance and the Home and Nations committees.
Chen Ching-pao (陳清寶) and Lin Pin-kuan (林炳坤), KMT legislators from Kinmen and Penghu, were among the lawmakers advocating the revisions yesterday.
In Chen's proposal, the decision whether to legalize gambling would be left up to a majority vote of an island's residents. A decision to abolish gambling could be achieved in the same manner.
The lawmaker's plan also envisions casino operators paying 10 percent of their gross to an island's local government and "offshore construction funds." In addition, at least 50 percent of a casino's employees would have to be local hires.
But not everyone was satisfied with yesterday's proposal.
Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平), director of the Government Information Office, said he regretted the legislative committees' move, as the Cabinet was planning a similar measure.
"Executive departments are evaluating and establishing a proposal for the legalization of gambling on offshore islands," Su said. "We hope that the Legislative Yuan can wait for the executive departments' proposal."
Proposals to introduce casinos to Taiwan's offshore islands have been controversial. At the end of last year, the Development and Evaluation Commission said it was evaluating the possibility of legalizing gambling on off-shore islands.
In March, Minister of the Interior Chang Po-ya (張博雅) said that she and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) agreed that casinos should be allowed on offshore islands.
Those remarks sparked heated debate among environmentalists, scholars and religious leaders about whether the government should roll the dice on legalized gambling.
But gambling isn't seen as the sole way to solve the economic problems of the nation's offshore islands.
Some hope tourists bound for China could give the islands a much-needed boost.
Lin Chung-cheng (林忠正) said yesterday that anyone from Taiwan should be allowed to travel to China through an island participating in the "small three links." Currently, just residents of the Kinmen and Matsu island groups may go.
Lin said making the change would help Taiwanese reduce transportation costs, in addition to stimulating the economies of off-shore islands.
Chen agreed that the revision would be beneficial. "The main purpose of implementing the small three links was so that goods and Taiwanese travelers would pass through the offshore islands instead of Hong Kong and Macau," Chen said. "But the Cabinet has been conservative" in allowing a greater flow of goods and tourists, Chen said.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS