PARTISAN POLITICS:The KMT refused to agree to a general assembly floor debate and vote, while declining to state whether the party would present an alternative
Taipei Times
Date: May 17, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
Efforts to pass a legislative resolution condemning the citation of the “one China” principle in a
Members of the New Power Party legislative caucus yesterday convene a meeting at the legislature to call for a united cross-party response to the WHO invitation letter.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
WHO invitation letter stalled yesterday after cross-caucus negotiations broke down because of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opposition.
“The KMT’s stance is that there is no need for us to tango with the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] and the New Power Party [NPP] because the only reason we received an invitation using this kind of language is because of the ideology of the incoming administration,” KMT Legislator Lee Yan-hsiu (李彥秀) said. “If the DPP and NPP want to respond, they should do so under the banners of their individual caucuses, rather than using a legislative resolution.”
The nation’s invitation to participate in this year’s World Health Assembly — to be held from Monday to Saturday next week — begins by “recalling” UN Resolution 2758, which in 1971 recognized the People’s Republic of China at the expense of the Republic of China, and goes on to say that the invitation is in line with the “one China” principle.
KMT opposition to an NPP resolution condemning the letter’s wording during a meeting of the general legislative session last week automatically confined it to cross-caucus negotiations. [FULL STORY]
