Taipei, March 25 (CNA) A bill that would create high legislative thresholds to pass any potential political agreement with China and subject such a deal to a national referendum is set to be approved by the Cabinet on Thursday and given priority in the Legislature's current session.
The decision was made during consultations Monday between the executive and legislative branches on the legislation hosted by Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming , according to a DPP lawmaker who attended the meeting.
The Cabinet's push to get the amendment passed early this session came after opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih said Feb. 14 that the KMT could sign a peace treaty with Beijing if the KMT regains the presidency in 2020.
The legislation, which would amend the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, calls for a national referendum to be held before any cross-Taiwan Strait political agreement, including a peace treaty, can be formally signed and take effect.
Under the draft bill, the Cabinet would have to submit any proposed political agreement with China and an assessment of its impact on Taiwan's constitutional system to the Legislative Yuan 90 days before starting cross-strait negotiations on such an agreement.
Such a proposal must be approved by two-thirds of lawmakers before negotiations can be started.
The draft bill also stipulates that the authority responsible for cross-strait negotiations on such an agreement must conduct talks in accordance with the proposal and report to the Legislature.
If the Legislature decides the talks have not followed the proposal's guidelines, it could demand a termination of the negotiations if voted on by at least half of the lawmakers in the legislative body.
If the Cabinet judges such an agreement could not be signed, it would also be required to halt negotiations and report on the situation to the Legislature, according to the draft bill.
The bill would also require the authority in charge of negotiations to submit a draft of the agreement to the president to approve after talks are completed and then make public the full text of the draft and send it to the Legislature for review.
For the agreement to take effect, it would have to be passed by at least three-fourths of lawmakers present at a meeting consisting of at least three-fourths of the members of the legislative body and then be approved in a referendum, according to the draft legislation.
