What happens when a government comes up against a law it doesn’t like? In Taiwan (where ‘rule of guanxi‘ is only slowly being replaced by ‘rule of law‘), the answer is all too often that the politicians ignore the law. In that context, it can be seen as a sign of real progress that the Cabinet is preparing to put into effect a law that it disagrees with:

Vice President Annette Lu lashed out yesterday against the Cabinet decision to start fingerprinting all people above 14 years of age on July 1.
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A couple of years ago, Lu said, the presidential committee on human rights requested a repeal of the domiciliary legislation act that stipulates fingerprinting of all applicants for ID cards. She heads that committee.
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While in office, former Premier Yu Shyi-kun made that request to the Legislative Yuan, which, however, did not take action.

Premier Frank Hsieh again submitted the request, but the Legislative Yuan has refused to act on it. As a consequence, the Cabinet has to do what the law says, said its spokesman Chuo Yung-tai.

Back in 1997, the previous government passed a Household Registration Law which required fingerprinting of all citizens. After many delays, the law is due to come into effect in a month – despite the opposition of most members of the current government.

Apart from highlighting the gridlock that has gripped Taiwanese politics since 2000 (where the president and his cabinet can’t pass or amend any laws without the support of their opponents in the KMT), it shows that Premier Hsieh is willing to implement the law, even when he believes that ‘the law is an ass’ – for which he should be warmly applauded.