🇹🇼Week of September 28

The Democratic Progressive Party caucus said the rejection leaves the public's petitions without a resolution and asked the opposition to state clearly the reasons the nominees were unfit. DPP legislators asked who would decide the continued backlog of petition cases while the Control Yuan member posts remain vacant. Chen Yung-hsing said the vote killed the opportunity to reform the Control Yuan.123

Attributed claim: The dispute is over substance and procedure: the KMT and TPP bloc voted down every nominee without any passing, while the DPP caucus frames the outcome as leaving citizen petitions unresolved and demands the opposition explain its grounds for finding the nominees unfit. The Liberty Times, a centre-right outlet, carried Chen Yung-hsing's statement that the rejection eliminated the chance to reform the Control Yuan.123

Beijing told Washington that approving arms sales to Taiwan before the summit would lead it to cancel the late-month Xi-Trump meeting, according to Japan's Kyodo News. The warning set the condition that Washington must not approve Taiwan arms sales before the meeting, and that Xi would cancel his visit to the United States if the sales go ahead.123

A scholar analysis of the summit's conclusions said Trump will not trade Taiwan for soybeans or Boeing. A separate scholar assessment said the consensus in Washington policy circles on resisting China and protecting Taiwan is clear, and that US arms sales to Taiwan cannot stop.45

KMT figure Lu Hsiu-yen said after the second Xi-Trump meeting that it could lead to a military imbalance across the Taiwan Strait and urged the Lai administration to pay attention. DPP city councillors attacked Lu for repeatedly discussing the Xi-Trump meeting, calling her a "political marginal figure."26

Deputy Minister Chen Ming-chi said US policy toward Taiwan has not changed, after the Xi-Trump meeting revived controversy by referring back to World War II.3

Premier Cho Jung-tai responded to the proposal by stressing that the government will not leave debt to future generations, and the Executive Yuan set out three principles for any cash distribution. The Democratic Progressive Party said the payout should not be raised in a bidding war with opposition parties, warning that competitive increases will never end.1234

Attributed claim: The dispute over the payout is a partisan clash over fiscal policy: the KMT caucus is pushing the higher amount as a priority bill, while the DPP argues that matching opposition add-ons would create an endless cycle of increases. The Executive Yuan's three principles and Cho's debt warning frame the government's position against the KMT proposal.234

US and Iranian officials confirmed that negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war will restart. The talks are being pursued as Washington and Tehran seek a way to halt the conflict.1

President Donald Trump said the US will soon win the war with Iran and denied that he is offering sanctions relief or unfrozen assets. He also said he does not rule out further airstrikes, while leaving open the possibility of talks this week. Iran's foreign minister said Tehran is ready for either war or negotiation.234

Iran is privately pessimistic about the negotiations and expects no deal before the US midterm elections in November, with the risk of escalation rising after the vote. Tehran has proposed a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and its foreign minister is waiting for a US response.5678

Taiwan High Speed Rail trains were packed over the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend, with passengers describing the return home as an escape and complaining that the problem should not be pushed back onto travellers. Transport Minister Chen Shih-kai acknowledged that passengers' experience was not good and said a transport review meeting would be held the next day.12

Chen Shih-kai said he had full command of holiday transport operations throughout the Mid-Autumn break and personally tested the Taichung-to-Taipei trip, arriving in two hours. Asked about not being in Taiwan during the holiday, he stressed that being in command does not necessarily mean being in the office.34

Over three days, 30 people were reported for violations after free-seat passengers squeezed into business-class cars, drawing public anger and calls for them to get out. Taiwan High Speed Rail apologised for the incidents.5