A group of Aborigines petitioned the Cabinet's Council of Aboriginal Affairs yesterday for help in recovering land taken by the Ministry of National Defense in 1967.
The 45 petitioners, who include senior citizens, middle-aged people and children, produced evidence documenting that they were the original owners of 77.402 hectares in Hoping township (
"President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has shown his concern for Aboriginal land rights and has committed the government to a policy of returning ancestral lands to Aborigines," the council's chairman, Yohani Isqaqavut (尤哈尼), told the petitioners. "During my term, I will endeavor to see that Aboriginal land rights are respected."
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chin Su-mei (
The ministry used the land to set up barracks and training camps, Chin said, and it offered "other land as compensation, but they never stuck to the deal."
Another petitioner, Hsu Wan-fu (
"Since the ministry is not using the lands, why not return them to us?" Hsu said. "It's my ancestors' land. I have to take it back."
The defense ministry stopped using some of the land in 1998 and agreed to return it, the petitioners said, but Hoping township officials failed to inform the original owners about meetings with the ministry to discuss transfer of the lands.
The petitioners said township officials located just two of the original owners and returned three plots of land to them. The remaining property was taken over by the township.
The Aborigines asked the council to help them recover 7.402 hectares currently under the township's control, and a 70-hectare plot that is still being used by the defense ministry's Yueh Wu Camp (岳武營區).
In response to the request, Yohani Isqaqavut told the petitioners, "I will continue with my efforts to campaign for land rights and will do so earnestly."
Aboriginal activists, mainly from the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan where Yohani Isqaqavut was once a leader, launched campaigns named "Return Our Lands" in 1989, 1990 and 1992.
The main challenge facing Aborigines is producing documents that show they were the original owners of land.
Mayaw Kumud (
Mayaw Kumud served a one-year jail term in 1995 for breaking laws against assembly and demonstrations during the 1992 "Return Our Land" campaigns.
"Many activists from that time have entered the new government. We won't let go of [the land rights issue] easily," Mayaw Kumud said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS