Thirty-seven Aboriginal college and graduate students from around the country yesterday received scholarships from the Lee and Lien Education Foundation at the National Taipei Teachers College.
Forty-three high school students also received prizes from the foundation.
PHOTO: CNA
"You are the owners of Taiwan," former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said. "You must have confidence in that fact and be proud to announce to the world that you are an Aborigine," Lee told the students, chosen from more than 1,700 applicants.
"Our Aboriginal youth need this sort of confidence," Lee said. "Today we are able to give you economic support and make your studies possible, but this is not enough. To be competitive in Taiwan's society, you must have confidence in your identity."
The foundation was created in 1996 by Lee and then-vice president Lien Chan (連戰).
But after the 2000 presidential election, a rift between Lee and Lien left the foundation in an awkward situation.
The foundation now appears to lean toward Lee, especially as it is chaired by a longtime supporter, Huang Kun-hui (
Huang is also the vice chairman of Taiwan Advocates, a pro-independence think tank founded and chaired by Lee.
Lien was not present at the ceremony yesterday.
Lee said he had a personal concern for Aboriginal issues. After having what he called a "religious experience" at the age of 35, Lee said he had a special duty to take care of Taiwan's Aborigines. He cited educational standards and deficiencies in agricultural technology among the tribes as pressing problems.
"Schools in the mountains are too often just springboards for plains teachers [Han teachers]," he said.
"They teach one or two years and leave, never truly investing in the children's future. What's more, most non-Aboriginal teachers do not understand the Aboriginal lifestyle, and see their traditions as faults.
"This is just like Taiwan's plight: always being a springboard for different colonialists who don't keep our best interests in mind," Lee said.
Lee said he would help launch a plan in August involving over 400 Aboriginal churches and ministries nationwide. A Christian himself, Lee said he hoped to help the churches become community centers that guide agricultural technology, education and career counseling for Aboriginal people.
He also urged the recipients of the foundation's scholarships and prizes to give consideration to returning to their communities to help improve conditions among their people.
"If this money helps you stand up and develop confidence in yourself, you will be able to accomplish a lot, both in the mountains and in Taiwan's society as a whole," he said.
Lee personally presented each award, asking the Aboriginal name and home of each recipient as he or she approached. He encouraged the students to give up their Chinese names and resume using their tribal names.
After the ceremony, foundation representatives held a conference with scholarship recipients called "The Development of Aboriginal Education and Society."
Huang headed the discussion, receiving suggestions and fielding questions from the students. He promised that the foundation would use its influence to make Aboriginal voices more clearly heard in government.
Huang called on the students to create a national Aboriginal student organization to place pressure on the legislature.
"This is a democracy," Huang said. "So you must make your voices heard."
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard