Premier pledges to see marriage equality realized

EXPORT QUALITY The government is backing local film and music producers to sell their products overseas to help promote Taiwanese culture on the global stage

By Sean Lin / Staff reporter





Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday promised to realize marriage equality in accordance with the Council of Grand Justices Constitutional Interpretation No. 748, a goal absent from the 72 priority bills the Executive Yuan put forward last week.

“The Executive Yuan has followed the Council of Grand Justices’ ruling to seek the broadest consensus in an effort to put forward a concrete and workable marriage equality bill,” Lai said in his first administrative report to the legislature.

The drive to legalize same-sex marriage was listed under the government’s goal to build a “just society,” one of its five major administrative goals.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators hold placards on the floor of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday as they try to block Premier William Lai from making his first report to the legislature. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times

Another measure the government would take to achieve that goal is to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) before the current legislative session ends, so that the nation’s transition to a “direct democracy” can be complete, Lai said.

The Executive Yuan has proposed a draft amendment to the act, which is being reviewed by the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee, he said.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has promised to finish amending the act by the end of the year.

The government’s other four major administrative goals are to promote Taiwanese culture, develop “green” energy sources, build “smart” infrastructure and to create a “happy” homeland.

To promote Taiwanese culture, the government would continue to push the “revisiting historic scenes” initiative, which involves incorporating augmented and virtual reality applications with historic sites to enable tourists to better understand the nation’s history and culture, Lai said.

The government has created a platform for financial institutions and audio and video entertainment companies to engage in exchanges and seek potential business partners, thereby leveraging finances for film and music production and helping firms market their products overseas, he added.

On energy transition, the government would carry through a two-year project to boost photovoltaics, a four-year project to develop wind energy, as well as plans to utilize biogas and waste heat, he said.

The government has selected the Shalun Green Energy Science City Office (沙崙綠能科學城) in Tainan as a hub for developing renewable energy, Lai said.

To help the nation transition from an original equipment manufacturer to an innovative industrial sector, the government will relax restrictions on young entrepreneurs when establishing start-ups, invest in digital infrastructure and bolster programs to cultivate high-tech talent, he said.

The government has set out initiatives to collaborate with the high-tech sector in providing people with “smart” services, which would be carried out on the nation’s strong basis of semiconductor manufacturing and integrating trending technologies, such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and big data, he said.

To revitalize the economy, the Executive Yuan has submitted a priority bill to the legislature on recruiting and employing foreign talent in a bid to retain top foreign professionals, Lai said.

The government is creating policies to relax financial restrictions facing foreign investors to boost the nation’s economic competitiveness in the global arena, he said.

To improve people’s quality of life, the government would step up measures to curb the circulation of narcotics and clamp down on overseas fraud rings operated by Taiwanese, which would help defend the nation’s reputation, he said.

The government has set out plans to reduce particulates measuring less than 2.5PM to protect people’s health, Lai said.

Starting on Jan. 1, the government is to step up its ban on plastic bags, which is expected to reduce the number of plastic bags made by 1.5 billion per year, he said.

The government is to introduce policies to address the nation’s low birth rate, thereby lessening the burden on young couples raising children and providing them with “friendly” nursing spaces, he said.

Finally, the nation hopes to engage in collaboration rather than confrontation with China by identifying a common ground, while acknowledging the differences between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, he said.