Several Aboriginal social groups, including the Taiwan Indigenous Communication Association, announced yesterday that next month they would hold a series of forums for Aborigines across the nation on the possible establishment of nation-to-nation relations with the government.
The discussion series, called "Forum for Austronesian Indigenous Peoples," will include five discussion sessions around the country involving local Aboriginal leaders and representatives. Each session will cover issues related to the definition and practical enactment of sovereignty for Taiwan's indigenous people. The sessions will also cover President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) promise of a "semi state-to-state" partnership with Aborigines.
The forum's goal is to create a unified vision of the future of government and of relations among Aboriginal leaders, said Lin Ming-te (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"President Chen has already said that he wants to establish nation-to-nation relations with Aborigines. However, that relationship doesn't just depend on the government. Aboriginal people need to come up with a unified view of what they want those relations to be like," Lin said.
The problem in setting up nation-to-nation relations, Lin said, is that there is no representative Aboriginal organization with which the government can communicate.
"Aboriginal people have been controlled by outside forces for too long. They've forgotten how to decide things for themselves and be self-governing," Lin said.
At a press conference yesterday, Lin proposed that the Aboriginal community set up a central entity to act as a governing body for the nation's indigenous people and as a go-between for Aborigines and the government.
When asked about the role of Aboriginal legislators and the Council of Indigenous Peoples, Lin said he considered their positions compromised by party politics and election considerations. Aboriginals need non-political, grassroots representation, Lin argued.
In response, Aboriginal Legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) said he was reluctant to rule out the council and Aboriginal lawmakers as contributors to establishing nation-to-nation relations with the government, but said he would support the idea of forming a different mechanism if the forums revealed that Aboriginal people wanted one.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, who will be hosting some of the forum's discussions, also announced that he and his fellow Aboriginal legislators would force votes on the Aboriginal Basic Law (
Until the bills are passed, Liao said, he and the other Aboriginal legislators would stall votes on all other issues.
The draft of the Aboriginal Basic Law outlines a structure for autonomy for Aborigines. The changes to the Land Law are designed to guarantee land rights to Aboriginals. Both bills failed to pass in the last legislative sitting.
The forum comes in the wake of protests by Aborigines from across Taiwan about recent remarks by Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮). However, forum organizers said that planning for the forum had been going on for a while.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
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
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the