Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Power grab disguised as ‘reform’

Taipei Times Editorial

The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday last week passed a set of controversial bills proposed by opposition lawmakers expanding the legislature’s power of investigation and introducing penalties for “contempt of the legislature.”

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have pushed for the passage of the amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Powers (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code, in the name of “legislative reform” to make the government more transparent and accountable. The bills grant the legislature investigative powers, allowing it to hold hearings and demand that government agencies, the military, judicial officials, organizations and individuals provide information or documents or face fines. They would also criminalize “contempt of the legislature” by civil servants who make false statements during a hearing or questioning in the Legislative Yuan.

Will Taiwan become Hong Kong?

Chen yu-hsin 陳雨鑫

On May 17, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) joined forces to create a horrible spectacle. They began their plan to expand the powers of the legislature and gut the power of the incoming administration, which could potentially “Hong-Kong-ify” the legislature. They are using unscrupulous methods to make inroads into the judiciary, threatening that they would lock up officials or legislators for certain offenses, leading to public ire and worry.

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) subjugation of Hong Kong came about through four major stages.

Opposition confused about bills

Chang Bao-yuan 張葆源

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have worked in cahoots to try and force through legislative reform bills. So far, the contents are questionable — the legislation is not only of exceptionally poor quality, but also ignores basic constitutionality.

The “state of the nation address” motion alone reveals that the proponents have lost all sense of constitutional awareness.

The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday last week completed the second reading of Article 15-1 of the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法). It came to light that the KMT and the TPP had not only revised the original articles, but had also added two new ones, including making the state of the nation address into a “compulsory duty.” These amendments seem to have been “cooked up” and passed in the shadows, a shockingly unconstitutional move.

Lai pledges to fight authoritarianism

Taipei Times

President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday told visiting US lawmakers that Taipei would work with Washington to counter “authoritarian expansionism,” days after China staged major military drills around Taiwan.

Lai has been labeled by Beijing as a “traitor” and “saboteur of peace and stability” since he vowed to defend the nation’s sovereignty and democracy in his inaugural speech on Monday last week.

Three days after he was sworn into office, warships and fighter jets encircled Taiwan in drills China said were “punishment” for Lai’s “confession of Taiwan independence” and a test of its ability to seize control of the nation.

More Articles...