Walis Pelin (瓦歷斯貝林), a former independent legislator, lost his seat in the Legislative Yuan in December's elections. But only a few months later, he made a political comeback with his appointment as the new chairman of the Council of Indigenous Peoples starting March 10.
Premier Frank Hsieh (
While stressing that he was only accepting Chen's resignation to protect the image of the Cabinet, Hsieh added that Walis would be the perfect candidate for the position.
"He is of Aboriginal descent and constantly devoted himself to Aboriginal issues when he was a lawmaker," Hsieh said when announcing the appointment last week.
As Chen's successor, Walis has promised to improve the socioeconomic status of the Aboriginal peoples and to address equally the different demands made by each of the 12 Aboriginal tribes.
"Aboriginal issues are complicated, because each tribe has a unique culture and specific needs," Walis said.
"So the fundamental thing is to mobilize the Aboriginal community. As the Council of Indigenous Peoples' chairman, I will aim to strengthen tribal consciousness and assist each tribe in developing its community network -- an important step toward attaining a high degree of autonomy," he said during a telephone interview with Taipei Times.
Aboriginal autonomy has long been a goal of many Aboriginal groups and lawmakers. A dedicated lobbyist for Aboriginal self-governance, Walis and other Aboriginal rights advocates promoted "A New Partnership Between the Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Taiwan" agreement, which President Chen Shui-bian (
The agreement aims to promote an autonomous region for Aborigines as well as to protect other rights, such as resource allocation and land ownership.
After more than 10 years of political wrangling, the Aboriginal Basic Law (原住民族基本法) -- a law guaranteeing the autonomy of the nation's indigenous peoples -- was passed by the legislature in January.
The Aboriginal Education Act (
Under the act, Aboriginal students will receive more financial aid and scholarships from the government.
Walis was born in Nantou County on Aug. 8, 1952. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Catholic Fu-jen University in 1975.
An Atayal tribesman and a former Catholic priest, Walis began his political career in 1986, when he was first elected as a Nantou County councilor. He was elected to the legislature in 1993 and served for four terms, until January.
During his service in the Legislative Yuan, Walis played an active role in promoting Aboriginal rights. He joined a nonpartisan action group for Aborigines (
One of his unnoticed contributions amid the earthquake relief efforts was the establishment of the new Aboriginal village in Puli, Nantou, with the help from the Tzu Chi Buddhist Compassionate Relief Foundation.
The village provided a temporary shelter for 106 Aboriginal families, mostly Atayal and Bunan tribespeople.
"Most of the 42 high-alert danger zones declared after the earthquake were located around Aboriginal villages. Walis responded to Aborigines' urgent needs with the establishment of the village within a month, which I think is marvelous," said Huang Chih-Huei (黃智慧), a researcher in the Institute of Ethnology at Academia Sinica and Walis' friend.
In addition to Aboriginal autonomy, Walis promoted policies including the land restoration and conservation special bill (
He also addressed issues such as the constitution of Aboriginal rights, and the establishment of Aboriginal Ecology Preservation Center.
It is his dedication to Aboriginal autonomy, however, that has earned him the respect of his peers.
"We have been working on the establishment of an Aboriginal legislative body, and have representatives from every tribe to address our issues with the government. We expect the process to be faster with Walis in the council now," said Ado Calaw, executive chief of the Association of Taiwan Indigenous Peoples' Policy.
While promising that the efforts to carry out Aboriginal autonomy will continue, Walis pledges to find solutions to the high unemployment rate of Aboriginal peoples and provide better education.
"The council will promote tribal education to cultivate more talented individuals from the Aboriginal community. Hopefully better education can help these people find jobs. I think it is more practical than holding activities to showcase Aboriginal culture," Walis said.
Both Huang and Ado said that Walis' religious and nonpartisan background may help him from getting too involved in conflicts and politicizing Aboriginal issues.
"Walis was born in the Atayal tribe, and always went back to the tribes to hear the voices of the people when he was a legislator. We expect him to continue to communicate with the tribes and address Aboriginal issues as the council's chairman," Ado said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said