An Aboriginal group yesterday criticized Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) over her remarks at a summit on cross-strait relations in Beijing.
Chin, who is of Atayal and Manchu ancestry, on Friday claimed to represent Taiwan’s Aborigines at the summit, where she advocated strict adherence to the so-called “1992 consensus” and the idea that “both sides of the Taiwan Strait are part of one China,” the Chinese-language China Times said.
Chin also called for a deepening of the cross-strait relationship and greater unity between the people of Taiwan and China, the paper said.
Photo taken from the Indigenous Youth Front Facebook page
“There is no consensus on the ‘1992 consensus.’ This ‘one China’ you [Chin] speak of has nothing to do with the indigenous people of Taiwan!” the Indigenous Youth Front said in an open letter.
Aboriginal officials should stick to their duties and not use their titles as bargaining chips to accumulate political capital, front representative Savungaz Valincinan said.
“Going to China and engaging in an exchange of personal benefits tramples on and degrades the sovereignty of the nation’s indigenous people,” she said.
Within four hours of its release, the letter, which lambasted other Aboriginal officials, such as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Sufin Siluko, Yosi Takun and Sra Kacaw for “losing sincerity” by promoting closer ties with China, had 500 signatures.
“We are Taiwanese Aborigines, not Chinese minorities. Please do not claim to represent us,” the letter said, adding that Aborigines have never signed an agreement with a modern nation to abandon their sovereign rights, and Aboriginal communities had fought for many years to have their sovereignty respected by the government.
The hard-fought achievements of the Aborigines of past generations made it possible to have the Republic of China Constitution amended to secure equal status and political participation for today’s Aborigines, it said.
Those who take part in political events in China as “Taiwanese Aboriginal representatives” are overstepping the boundaries of their positions, which are to protect the interests of Aborigines in the Legislative Yuan, it said.
Those representing Aborigines in the legislature are not involved at the community level, where local groups and their leaders were already in place, it said.
The failure of China’s “one country, two systems” formula in Hong Kong was proof that Beijing would never respect the sovereignty of Aborigines, it said.
“Although we are not fully satisfied with the current government in Taiwan, we are working hard to change it,” the letter said. “We definitely cannot accept a system that concentrates sovereignty into a single nation and does not respect Taiwan’s diversity.”
The “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted in 2006 to making up in 2000 — refers to an understanding between the KMT and Beijing that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
RSS