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.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
RSS