Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday condemned some opposition politicians for what she called a deliberate misinterpretation of her remarks about the government's Aboriginal policies. She said that those politicians should apologize to the public, but that she would not.
"I made none of those remarks provoking the Aboriginal communities, so why should I apologize?" Lu said, responding to reporters' questions about a protest by Aborigines against her remarks that was staged in front of the Presidential Office yesterday after-noon.
Lu insisted that the public should find out who actually made the inappropriate remarks.
PHOTO: CNA
"I did not say that the government must force Aborigines to emigrate to Central America, I just suggested that the government's emigration policy should reconsider how to assist residents in central Taiwan's mountain areas to develop new careers in other countries, such as Taiwan's allies in Central America," Lu said.
Lu reaffirmed her statement that no human being is the master of the earth because everyone is just a passing visitor on the planet, so "all of us must respect nature."
"Moreover, I never used the word `extinction' about Aboriginal tribes; it was an Aboriginal legislator using the word to exaggerate my remark maliciously. I think that all
"Aboriginal communities should ask this lawmaker to officially apologize," Lu said.
She blamed those who she said misinterpreted her remarks, saying that they should stop arousing ethnic strife to benefit their personal interests in the upcoming legislative elections.
Lu welcomed Aboriginal citizens to visit Ketagalan Square in front of the Presidential Office, but asked that they sing their traditional folk songs and perform dances instead of carrying guns and knives.
Though some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators defended Lu's remarks, they suggested Lu make an apology to end what they called unnecessary disputes between the Aboriginal community and the DPP government.
"We have sent a letter to all Aboriginal tribal leaders to introduce what the vice president really said and to compare these words with the media's and other politicians' incorrect versions," DPP Ethnic Affairs Department chief Yang Chang-cheng (
Yang said that the party sincerely expected the Aboriginal communities not to be misguided by a few malicious politicians, but he also quoted some DPP leaders as saying that "there is nothing bad about making a short goodwill remark expressing regret."
Other politicians said that damage had been done.
"Those aboriginal tribes originally all disliked the DPP; it was a difficult job to communicate with them. Now that we finally won trust from some of them, Lu's remarks -- in which she said that those Aborigines were not Taiwan's first inhabitants -- just spoiled our efforts," said Mayaw Kumud (
Lee Hung-hsi (
"The main point of the Aboriginal issue is not those recent word wars between the vice president and the Aborigines," said Lee. "It is what goals the government is capable of achieving."
"Some politicians aroused Aborigines' anger to attack Lu, so we can leave the issue to Lu herself to decide whether to apologize," Lee said.
"But we must clearly understand that the government has allocated much more of its budget than other advanced democratic countries, and much more than the former KMT government, to improve Aboriginal communities' welfare and to promote Aboriginal citizens' rights," Lee said.
"Now the public and the Aboriginal leaders should focus on whether President Chen's administration can realize the president's campaign goal of developing `quasi-state-to-state' relationship between the government and the future Aboriginal autonomous region," Lee said.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS