Thousands of Aboriginal citizens from around the island demonstrated in front of the Presidential Office yesterday to push for a return of their "traditional territory."
The mass rally followed an overnight sit-in on the plaza in downtown Taipei by about 100 Aboriginal youths under the leadership of Aboriginal legislators from both the ruling and opposition parties that began at 10pm Friday.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The activity was organized to coincide with Taiwan's Retrocession Day on Oct. 25 which celebrates Taiwan's return to the Chinese fold in 1945 after 50 years of Japanese colonial rule. Aboriginal rights activists said Taiwan originally belonged to the island's indigenous people, not the immigrants from the Chinese mainland. They organized Friday's sit-in and Saturday's mass demonstration to highlight their call for a return of their "traditional territory" or self-governance of Aboriginal tribes.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Legislators May Chin (
The demonstrators urged President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to honor his campaign promise to allow for Aboriginal self-governance. In addition, they voiced strong opposition to the plan to make the Chilanshan area in the northeastern county of Ilan, which is the traditional homeland of the Atayal Aboriginal group, into a national park.
The demonstrators also deman-ded that the nuclear waste stored on the offshore Orchid Island, home to the Tao Aboriginal people, be moved off the island as soon as possible.
Chen Chien-nien (陳建年), chairman of the Cabinet-level Council of Aboriginal Affairs, showed up at the demonstration site to express his concern for their appeal.
Chen, himself an Aboriginal citizen, said aboriginal self-governance is a complicated issue which involves the revising of many statutes.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS