Aboriginal leaders claimed yesterday to hold the key to the presidential election, demanding that both political camps act to prevent their way of life from being wiped out.
Community leaders led a march yesterday to protest decades of what they said were human rights abuses and claimed that successive governments had ignored their appeals to preserve their language and identity.
They claimed that Aborigines represented 5 percent of the country's 23 million people and could swing the vote on March 20, with President Chen Shui-bian (
"We may be a minority but we believe our votes will play a crucial role in this tight election," said protest organizer Pan Jae-yang, without expressing support for either camp.
Pan said, "Neither the KMT nor the DPP government has offered any help in preserving our culture and heritage. This is practically genocide of our race as we watch our language and culture being slowly wiped out."
Several hundred protesters marched from Chen's campaign headquarters to Lien's and delivered petitions to both camps demanding improved rights for Aborigines.
Aborigines receive some government money to help preserve their culture but Aboriginal leaders say that another 800,000 people living outside the nation's mountainous regions suffer from not being officially recognized by the government.
"We are truly the masters of Taiwan, but our rights and benefits are ignored by the Chen government," said independent Legislator May Chin (
She said that Chen had gone back on promises made to the Aboriginal people four years ago.
"He pledged to grant us greater autonomy in our tribal settlements and more resources, but nothing substantial has been done to improve our people's lives," she said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
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