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Aborigines hold up national park

Premier Yu Shyi-kun, left, and government officials yesterday measure the size of a thousand-year-old tree during their inspection of the planned Makao National Park in northern Taiwan. PHOTO: CHEN SHIH-LIEN, TAIPEI TIMES

Aboriginal legislators voiced opposition to the government's plan to develop the Makao National Park by insisting that the National Parks Law (國家公園法) be amended before work on the park begins.

The legislators stressed that the law would have to include a provision providing for the welfare of the Aborigines before they would unfreeze the park's budget.

The proposed park would cover 53,000 hectares of land and is inhabited mainly by the Atayal people. It encompasses four villages in northern Taiwan: Wulai, in Taipei County; Fuhsing, in Taoyuan County; Chienshih, in Hsinchu County; and Tatung, in Ilan County.

However, the budget for the preparation office of the park has been frozen because Aboriginal legislators were not satisfied with the National Parks Law, which does not include provisions on the Aborigines' welfare or acknowledge how the park would influence their communities.

"We have to wait until the National Parks Law is amended to lift the budget freeze on the Makao preparatory office. Hopefully the amended law can match the expectations of the Aboriginals living on or next to the designated land for the park, and allow them to co-manage the park with the government" said Walis Palin (瓦歷斯貝林), an Aboriginal legislator.

Another Aboriginal legislator, May Chin (高金素梅), said that originally the Aboriginal and pro-Aboriginal legislators demanded that the legislature pass the amended law before the end of the last legislative session, and added that the government needed to renegotiate with the Aborigines for the designated range of the park. Only by achieving these goals would they consider lifting the budget freeze.

"Actually, it is not enough just to amend the National Parks Law. We have to pass the Indigenous People's Autonomous Area Law (原住民自治區法) too. The government cannot set up a national park first and then amend and make laws beneficial to the Aborigines. It would be too late and it would be cheating as well," Chin said.

The reaction came as a response to Premier Yu Shyi-kun's comments regarding the park two days ago.

Yu reiterated the agreement of "A New Partnership Between the Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Taiwan," which President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) signed in 1999 when he was still a presidential candidate. The agreement aims to promote an autonomous region for Aborigines as well as other rights, such as resource allocation and land ownership.

Yu said the Executive Yuan would help push for the amendment of the National Parks Law and accelerate the preparation for the park.

Payan Talu, a senior specialist at The Council of Indigenous Peoples and a Atayal, pointed out the intention to establish a Makao National Park was an important step in the administration's efforts to realize the "new partnership" agreement.

"But the issue has been politicized and criticized for some people are simply against A-bian [Chen's nickname]. If we cannot manage to push through the park, based on A-bian's agreement with the Aborigines, before A-bian's term finishes next year, it is likely to become a dead issue," Payan Talu said.
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