Verbal feuding continued at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, as lawmakers discussed who would pay for the damage after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers threw pig skin and entrails around in the legislature on Friday.
Opposition lawmakers have been demanding an apology from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government for its plan to lift an import ban on US pork containing ractopamine.
During the administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the DPP, then in opposition, opposed imports of US pork containing the leanness-enhancing additive.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
It would cost more than NT$1 million (US$34,693) to replace the carpet inside the chamber, Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉) said yesterday, adding that microphones and the audio system were also damaged during Friday’s scuffle.
The cleanup is being handled by a contracted cleaning company, including washing and disinfecting, and would cost about NT$50,000 to NT$60,000, Lin told a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
“The company also used special products to eliminate odor. If the floor is clean and no foul smell is left, then we need not change the carpet. But if not, and the carpet needs replacing, then the cost would be more than NT$1 million,” Lin said. “Whoever caused the damage will have to pay. So the bill will be sent to the KMT.”
Lin said that the KMT was billed NT$415,000 for damage to legislature property after party members in July brawled with other lawmakers and police in an attempt to stop the confirmation of Chen Chu (陳菊) as Control Yuan president.
“KMT officials had promised to pay that bill, but have not yet done so. We still believe the KMT will keep its word and eventually pay the amount,” Lin said.
Asked by lawmakers about payment for other incidents, Lin said that all other political parties had paid their bills for damage, except the KMT.
Lin listed earlier incidents, including New Power Party members in January 2018 damaging the legislature’s entrance doors when protesting amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法). They paid the NT$120,000 bill.
Organizers of the 2014 Sunflower movement paid NT$2.63 million for destroying property while inside the legislature, Lin said, adding that the DPP paid more than NT$20,000 for occupying the legislature for five days in June 2012 over the importation of US meat products.
Asked for comment, KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said: “Our party is willing to pay any price to stop imports of ractopamine-tainted pork, including having to pay for damage to the legislative chamber floor.”
“The DPP should present its past payments, listing how much was paid and when it was paid. If the DPP does that, then we will pay, as we are not afraid to pay any costs as long as we can block the pork imports,” he said.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS