The publication of a book tracing the Aboriginal rights movement from the 1980s is a breakthrough, as Aborigines are often overlooked in studies of Taiwanese history, Academia Historica President Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) said yesterday.
Chang made the remarks during a press conference in Taipei to launch a two-volume book on Aboriginal history published by the Academia Historica and the Council of Indigenous Peoples.
Entitled A Collection of Historical Documents in Taiwan's Aboriginal Movement (
Through pictures, original manuscripts, newspaper clippings, maps and personal accounts from Aboriginal movement leaders, the book guides readers through major events in the Aboriginal movement from 1983 through 2002, when President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) confirmed a "new partnership agreement," paving the way for future Aboriginal autonomy.
"With this book we have challenged the Han-centric view that Taiwanese history is only 400-years old," Chang told the news conference.
"Aborigines lived in Taiwan before the Han people migrated from China; and long before the Aborigines, there were people who lived on this land but left only some traces and remains that we have discovered through archeological findings," he said.
Chang said that the Aboriginal rights movement was often overlooked in the study of political and social movements in the 1980s, adding that "we really need to pay more attention to it."
A member of the audience surnamed Lo (
Lo said he spent 24 years as a political prisoner during five decades of authoritarian rule under Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authoritarian rule.
"I had many cellmates who were Aborigines and their stories should have been recorded as well," Lo said.
Chang agreed, but said it would have taken too much time to include everything, but he promised to try and record earlier history in future publications.
Lyiking Yuma, a former activist, urged the public to continue making history.
"This publication is by no means the end of our struggle -- we must continue to write our history," she said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS