Over 300 protesters from the Aboriginal community yesterday threw eggs at the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) building yesterday, demanding the resignation of CIP Minister Chang Jen-hsiang (章仁香) for “betraying her own people” by disregarding tribespeople’s land and hunting rights.
The council denied the accusations and stressed it had always striven to preserve the rights of the community.
According to the Alliance to Safeguard the Aboriginal Basic Law, the council failed to protect two Aboriginal villages in Pingtung and Taitung County when Chang allegedly agreed to let the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) dump hazardous nuclear waste in the community.
In a statement, the CIP said the accusation was completely false because no AEC officials had visited Chang since she took up the position in May.
The alliance also asked the council to respect the Puyuma tribe’s traditional annual hunt by removing the requirement that they first obtain permission from the Forestry Bureau.
One Puyuma woman surnamed Chung said the annual hunt was an integral part of the tribe’s culture and did not understand why the tribe needed to seek the Forestry Bureau’s approval for the event that has been going on for over 100 years.
The CIP statement said that the Forestry Bureau was in charge of wildlife protection and therefore all hunting activity had to be cleared by the bureau.
Standing in the pouring rain in front of the CIP office in Taipei, protesters bused in from Pingtung, Taitung and Nantou demanded Chang face the crowd and give an explanation to the accusations leveled against her.
The angry protesters threw eggs at the building when Chang refused to meet them. The group later protested in front the Legislative Yuan, Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office.
About 100 protesters scaled a fence in an attempt to enter the Cabinet headquarters, clashing with more police.
Independent Legislator Kao Chin Su-mei (高金素梅), a member of the Atayal tribe, held a press conference at the same time as the protest echoing the demonstrators’ demands to remove Chang from office.
“The political party will continue to trample on our rights if we don’t make our voices heard. When that happens, we will not have a future,” she said, adding she would mobilize more street protesters if the Executive Yuan failed to name another CIP minister by Feb. 1.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS