Threatening with "extreme measures" should the Executive Yuan fail to heed their demands, over 1,500 Aborigines gathered in front of the Legislative Yuan yesterday to protest a draft bill that would halt the repair and construction of roads in mountainous areas.
A tense atmosphere hung over the protest throughout the afternoon, with protesters getting increasingly agitated, despite protest organizers' pleas for calm.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Several protesters scuffled with police around 3pm when they were prevented from marching to the Executive Yuan. One policeman was injured in the scuffle.
Nantou County councilor Hsieh Wang-shan (
Led by Aboriginal lawmakers Hsieh, May Chin (
Yelling slogans such as "Premier Yu Shyi-kun, come out" and "[Council of Indigenous Peoples] Chairman Chen Chien-nien [陳建年], come out," the Aboriginals marched toward the Executive Yuan around noon yesterday, demanding that the Executive Yuan send out a high-ranking representative to sign a written agreement to reconsider the bill.
Although the protesters originally planned to camp out in front of the Executive Yuan, they were forced to camp in front of the Legislative Yuan's Chi-nan Road entrance, because the organizers had only been able to get a permit to gather at the legislature.
Yesterday's rally was a continuation of the Aboriginal lawmakers' protest against a draft bill on land restoration and conservation (國土復育特別條例). The Council for Economic Planning and Development's (CEPD) special bill aims to ban land development, road construction or repair, farming and residence in certain areas in view of the destruction caused by this summer's natural disasters.
Dubbed the "genocide bill" by Chin when she led a similar protest to the Executive Yuan on Oct. 19 with Walis, the bill's provision banning construction and repair of roads in areas with fewer than 30 households cut off lifelines for many Aboriginal villages, Chin said yesterday.
"Just because a village has less than 30 households does not mean that its residents are not people," said Chin yesterday to protesters outside the Legislative Yuan.
While CEPD chairman Hu Sheng-cheng (胡勝正) promised protesters that the CEPD would consider Aboriginal concerns in the bill's construction at the Oct. 19 protest, organizers said that they decided to march yesterday because they were running out of time.
"Harvesting time is coming for a lot of these villages affected by the bill. We need to have the roads repaired now," Lushan said yesterday, adding that the Executive Yuan has in effect already promulgated the draft bill by delaying reconstruction of roads identified by the bill.
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
‘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
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
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man