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Israeli move opens room for cooperation: MOFA

Taipei Times

Israel recognizes that Somaliland provides an opportunity for trilateral cooperation between Taiwan, Israel and Somaliland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, adding that Taipei would continue to seek more cooperative opportunities with the two nations, as well as deepen connections with like-minded partners.

Israel yesterday formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state,” as leaders of both sides signed a joint recognition pact that stated: “This declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.”

The Abraham Accords are a set of agreements brokered by the US that normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab nations, signed in 2020 during US President Donald Trump’s first term.

Lai urges solidarity after knife attack

Taipei Times

The Taipei metro knife attack last week was a reminder of solidarity and vigilance, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, in a call to improve Taiwan’s emergency response capabilities.

He made the remarks in his opening speech for a Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee workshop.

Since its first meeting in September last year, the committee has conducted multiple tabletop and field exercises to strengthen national preparedness, he said.

KMT taking orders to stall bill from Beijing, DPP says

Taipei Times

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused opposition parties of taking orders from Beijing to stall Taiwan’s special defense budget.

A group of seven KMT Legislators, including Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之) and Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) attended an event in Xiamen hosted by the Xiamen Taiwan Businessmen Association over the weekend, where they met officials from Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office. The subject of their discussions was not divulged, leading to grave concern.

“KMT legislators rushed to fly to China, even though there is still lots of important work in the legislature. When asked, they refused to discuss their trip to Xiamen. Are they reporting to Chinese officials, who are now in charge of the KMT?” DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) said.

Court changes ruled unconstitutional

Taipei Times

The Constitutional Court yesterday ruled that amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed by the Legislative Yuan last year are unconstitutional, as they contravene due legislative process and separation of powers.

The Legislative Yuan on Dec. 20 last year passed amendments stipulating that no fewer than 10 grand justices must take part in deliberations of the Constitutional Court, and at least nine grand justices must agree to declare a law unconstitutional.

The Executive Yuan on Jan. 2 requested that lawmakers reconsider the bill, but the Legislative Yuan, under a combined majority of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators, rejected the motion.

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