Absorbing the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) into a larger entity would be a serious breach in the administration's promises to Aboriginals and a step backwards in ethnic policy, the CIP said Tuesday night in a statement.
The group was responding to potential amendments to the Organic Law of the Executive Yuan (
The CIP's contributions are such, the statement said, that the government should be considering elevating its status to a ministry, instead of its abolishment.
The amendments are being considered because of the passage of the Standard Organic Law of Central Government Agencies (
According to the statement, since the council's formation it has not only increased the govern-ment's ability to tackle Aboriginal issues, but has also fulfilled the wishes of Taiwan's indigenous people by giving them a real opportunity to participate in national policy-making.
If the council is abolished, Aboriginal issues will be marginalized and the political influence of Aborigines weakened, leading ultimately to assimilation for the ethnic group, the CIP said.
Throughout the statement, the CIP appealed to the government to remember President Chen Shui-bian's (
"If the government pushes through the amendments as planned ? President Chen's campaign promises will definitely fall short. There will be serious harm done to the administration's credibility," read the statement.
During a telephone interview, Aboriginal Legislator Walis Pelin (
"Combining the CIP with the Council of Hakka Affairs is a very strange idea and does not show respect for Aboriginal people," Walis said yesterday.
The CIP is already overburdened and underfunded, since everything related to Aboriginals, from land rights to education, is thrown at it, he said.
The Aboriginal people's position can only get worse if the CIP's duties end up being handled by a broader entity, Walis said.
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