Hello everyone, welcome to “News Talk”, I am Fuyao.
Today’s focus: Wang Yichuan choked! The Legislative Yuan is daring to act recklessly; The sunflowers are ripe! Discussing: The Chinese Communist Party is using Taiwan’s democracy to destroy Taiwan’s democracy; Even if we might lose, we must be open and transparent; New laws bring the “cicada effect” to Taiwan…
This week, despite physical conflicts among legislators, the Taiwan Legislative Yuan continued to vote on bills related to parliamentary reform. Many citizens and civic groups gathered at the Legislative Yuan, holding banners to express their protests. Many citizens oppose the current parliamentary procedures, with some saying “the people hope they comply with a reasonable and legal legislative process.”
On Tuesday, former United Microelectronics Corporation chairman Cao Xingcheng showed his support, stating that the Chinese Communist Party has launched wars against Taiwan through military, propaganda, and legal means. In terms of legal battles, the goal is for those friendly to the CCP to gain a majority in the Legislative Yuan in order to expand legislative power to restrain the executive power. If the Legislative Yuan becomes overextended and dominant, it can command the executive branch and law enforcement, ultimately leading to a situation similar to the Hong Kong Legislative Council.
Today, we have invited Wang Yichuan, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party Central Executive Committee and the Policy Committee, to help us understand the events and share his thoughts.
Fuyao: Welcome, Mr. Wang Yichuan, to the “News Talk” program. First of all, can you tell us where the “controversy” lies for everyone at the moment?
Wang Yichuan: The Constitution stipulates that the president can deliver a national report to the Legislative Yuan, but it does not require interrogation, which in Taiwan is called being questioned. The questioning process, because the opposition parties hope for a question-and-answer format, which we call “ask a question, get an answer” in Taiwan. This is not provided in Taiwan’s constitution, so we call it an expansion of power or an abuse of power.
Secondly, legislators hope that officials questioned in parliament will not talk back or express opinions on the questions asked by legislators, which they call counter-interrogation. They hope that officials simply answer the questions without adding any other comments.
Thirdly, opposition parties hope to be able to request access to the information of Taiwan’s armed forces, the government, general companies, general civil societies, and individuals, or invite them to the Legislative Yuan for questioning. If the information is not provided, or if the invitees do not attend, it will be seen as contempt of parliament, and they will ultimately be fined. This is essentially what the opposition parties hope to change.
In terms of procedures, in a democratic society such as the one in Taiwan, discussions like these are not impossible. What is happening is that because the opposition parties have more members, they are the majority in parliament, and the Kuomintang naturally hopes to pass the bills eventually. So we call it “injustice” when they cut off the process, not allowing the minority party to speak. The time given for speaking is also very short, which in Taiwan is called a “black box,” not giving the opportunity for discussion and pushing things through forcefully.
There is a hope to use some means of resistance. These types of resistance methods are not uncommon in Taiwan’s parliament, with various types of pushing and shoving. This may be less understood by the international community, but in Taiwan, this is considered a normal release of energy and a way to express and engage in resistance for a period of time.
Fuyao: So, you mean that the expansion of power is in some areas that are easily confused and difficult to define, leading to concerns that many people are coming out to resist?
Wang Yichuan: Yes, the host had a very good point. This is the key to this discussion. The host just mentioned the confusion in some areas, and people have these concerns, so discussions are needed. In legislative matters, these discussions are recorded, so when there are disputes in the future, people can go back to see what was discussed and defined during that process to understand the intentions and definitions. If this discussion process is missing, people will just go by the literal interpretation of the words and meanings seen, which can cause problems.
Because this will affect both government officials and the people, as well as general societies and companies, rights, as they could be fined and government officials could be sentenced. Therefore, clarity in regulations is essential, and this clarity can only be achieved through discussion. The Kuomintang currently holds the majority in parliament, and they want to pass the bills directly without discussion, leading to these protests which are fundamentally concerning to the Democratic Progressive Party. The DPP is well aware that even though they may lose in the vote in parliament, they want to understand the impact of the laws passed next.
The DPP cares a lot, very much cares about the discussion process, to let the people know the different positions of the different parties on these articles. If this discussion does not happen, people won’t know each other’s stance, which can easily lead to many disputes in the future when these laws are implemented, as they wouldn’t know what stance people had on each issue. This is why the DPP wants to ensure the discussion process is valued and understood by the citizens.
Fuyao: Indeed, China’s laws are often ambiguous, so when they arrest someone, it might be for a vague crime, and the specifics of the offense might be unknown, creating many “pocket crimes.” In the future, this could be a weapon for the majority party. However, I would like to ask, currently, it is the Kuomintang and the People’s Party joining forces to try to pass such a law. Aren’t they concerned that in the future, if the Democratic Progressive Party or other parties become the majority, they might use the same law to balance power? Why are they pushing for this law?
Wang Yichuan: Like the host mentioned, these are rational behaviors of a political party that thinks ahead. When in power or in opposition, elected as president and majority in parliament in Taiwan changes every four years, meaning that every four years you could be in power as a party, and every four years you could be the majority or minority in parliament. So in terms of legal design, it should ensure stability over the long term, where regardless of who is in power or the majority party, the system can still function.
However, the recent bill and disagreements have undergone significant changes since the presidency of Lai Ching-te. This has led to a clash of governance, and essentially, they only wish to cause some turbulence during the inauguration of Tsai Ing-wen. The opposition parties specifically proposed and insisted on pushing through these bills in recent days to create turmoil around the time of May 20th.
After all, there are many international delegations currently visiting Taiwan, with representatives from 51 countries and over a thousand guests visiting. They are still in Taiwan and have been meeting the new president, even visiting the Legislative Yuan. Therefore, they also witnessed Taiwan’s democracy, a new president assuming office and a minority in parliament – demonstrating how the government operates, with the opposition party seizing the chance to embarrass the new president, leaking air from the new government.
Fuyao: Certainly, Taiwan is now heading towards turbulence. Have similar situations occurred in Taiwan before?
Wang Yichuan: Absolutely, it’s a common practice in democratic countries. When a new