This Week in Taiwan 0914-0920
September 14: The Legislative Yuan reached a cross-partisan agreement to set up a constitutional amendment committee which will be represented proportionally by political party. The committee will be composed of 22 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 14 Kuomintang (KMT), two Taiwan People's Party (TPP), and one New Power Party (NPP) legislators. Current constitutional amendment proposals include lowering the voting age to 18 years old and abolishing the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan, among other issues.
September 15: During the Sunflower Student Movement in 2014, protesters attempted to occupy the Executive Yuan but were hurt when they were forcefully evacuated by the police. The protesters have sued government officials for attempted murder. The Taipei District Court ruled former President Ma Ying-jeou, former Premier Jiang Yi-huah, former Director-General Wang Chuo-chiun of the National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior, and former precinct chief Fang Yang-ning all innocent. Through his office, Ma affirmed the court decision and stated that it would help uphold the rule of law and promote justice.
September 15: BirdLife International voted in its General Assembly meeting to remove Taiwan's Chinese Wild Bird Federation (CWBF) from the international organization's partnership program.
CWBF said that BirdLife International has demanded the Taiwanese organization to change its English name three times over the past 20 years. This time, CWBF was asked to change its Chinese name and sign a document pledging that it would not promote or advocate Taiwan independence. CWBF responded that it is a conservation organization and refuses to sign such political statements but was unfortunately removed from BirldLife International's partnership program. CWBF will discuss a concerted response with other countries.
September 17: Taiwan will open to imports of U.S. pork and beef containing ractopamine beginning January 1 of next year. The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced revised bulk food labeling regulations. Fresh pork, professed food, braised pork rice, and any food containing pork or edible parts must indicate the origin of pork raw materials. Lard, which controversially did not require origin labeling, must now be labeled.
September 19: The funeral ceremony commemorating former President Lee Teng-hui held at Aletheia University in New Taipei was attended by Under Secretary of State Keith Krach of the United States and former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of Japan. President Tsai Ing-wen presented an official praise and commendation to Lee's survived family.
September 20: The 12th Straits Forum was held in Xiamen, Fujian Province. The KMT decided on September 14 that it would not attend as a political party because the mainland's China Central Television (CCTV) has yet to formally apologize for its "beg for peace" gaffe. In response, the mainland also responded by down-grading its official attendance, marking the first time that the event was not attended by the chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) . In a pre-recorded video, CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang stated that cross-strait interactions are driven by the people. The mainland strongly opposes "Taiwan independence" and supports developing cross-strait cooperation on the basis of the 1992 Consensus, so as to achieve unification and national rejuvenation together. Wang stressed that relying on foreign powers to boost Taiwan's self-worth will only pose unbearable risk to Taiwan.