Several advocacy groups warned today that the advancement of gender equality policies for the entire year could come to a complete standstill as they criticized a budgetary amendment proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to cut funding for gender equality services.
Gender equality advocacy groups including Taiwan Equality Campaign, the Taiwan Gender Equality Education Association, the Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy and the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association released a joint statement today in response to a bill proposed by KMT lawmakers that would cancel almost the entire budget for services provided by the Executive Yuan’s Department of Gender Equality if it passes.
KMT Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩) proposed the bill that would cut funding for gender equality services from NT$16.27 million (US$490,000) to just NT$3,000, which was cosigned by KMT Legislators Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) and Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄).
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
As the legislative review of the central government budget for the fiscal year 2025 remains in progress, the groups called for legislators to adopt a professional and constructive attitude towards reviewing the proposal.
Improving amendments and policies advocating for gender equality requires not only legislative oversight but also sufficient resources from the budget to support work such as collecting statistics and data, researching policies and holding discussions, they said.
The Awakening Foundation also released a statement yesterday, saying that although legislators proposing and reviewing bills is necessary within Taiwan’s democratic system, the proposal clearly lacks substance and shows that the legislators who proposed it do not understand the governance, labor division or responsibilities of Taiwan’s gender equality system.
Hsu said that many ministries have implemented gender equality policies, not just the Executive Yuan's Department of Gender Equality, and her former political stances show that she is a staunch advocate for gender equality policies and their budgeting.
This proposal is intended to make the Department of Gender Equality play a more active role in policy oversight, and the proposing legislators hope the department can clarify its plans to continue its work so that legislators can adjust the budget accordingly, she said.
The department has not effectively communicated with legislators, leading to misunderstandings among activist groups who are not familiar with the legislative process and believe that the budget cuts would affect the implementation of gender-equality related policies, which is untrue, she added.
Hsu urged the department to send personnel to report to legislators how they could improve policy oversight in future.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS