Taiwan's Aboriginal people are the victims of political wrangling between Aboriginal legislators, the head of the Council of Indigenous Peoples said yesterday, citing as proof the recent difficulties establishing an Aboriginal television channel.
"The past two and a half years have been really difficult for the Council of Indigenous Peoples," said Chen Chien-nien (
"Out of the 10 Aboriginal lawmakers in the legislature, nine are from opposition parties. Because non-Aboriginal legislators don't tend to concern themselves with Aboriginal issues, these issues all end up being controlled by the 10 legislators," Chien said at the forum, which was sponsored by the political think tank Taiwan Advocates and the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan.
Chien said that the presence of only one ruling party Aboriginal legislator, Chen Tao-ming (陳道明), leaves the council struggling to pass bills against attacks from the majority of the Aboriginal legislators each legislative sitting. As a result, Aboriginal people have fallen between the cracks, he added.
Chien cited difficulties establishing an Aboriginal television channel as an example.
"The budget for the television channel has been going around the legislature for two years now because of disagreements from opposition party Aboriginal legislators," Chien said.
The television station, a brainchild of the council, was originally slated to begin broadcasting next month, but the project became stalled in the last legislative session. While the establishment of the channel has already been approved, funding for the channel has been withheld because of concerns about low reception rates among Aboriginals in mountain areas and a lack of trained personnel.
During his speech yesterday, Chien said that reception rates and staff deficiencies are not serious enough problems to merit not broadcasting.
The council has already collaborated with the Government Information Office (GIO) to make the satellite television signals available throughout Taiwan and set up satellite dishes in mountainous communities, Chien said.
Further, personnel problems can be easily solved over time, he said.
"A certain legislator said that the channel must have a 100 percent Aboriginal staff before broadcasting can begin. That makes no sense; if there is not enough trained personnel, then we can borrow manpower from other places at first and still begin broadcasting," he said, later identifying the opposition legislator as independent May Chin (
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
Three tropical depressions yesterday intensified into tropical storms, with one likely to affect Taiwan as a typhoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The three storms, named Mitag, Ragasa and Neoguri, were designated as storms No. 17 to 19 for this year, the CWA said. Projected routes indicate that Ragasa is most likely to affect Taiwan, it said. As of 2am today, Ragasa was 1,370km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) on the southernmost tip of Taiwan. It was moving west-northwest before turning northwest, slowing from 11kph to 6kph, the agency said. A sea warning for Ragasa is unlikely before Sunday afternoon, but its outer rim
RSS