Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) Minister Chang Jen-hsiang (章仁香) came under fire from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday at the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee, who called her leadership style “arrogant and passive.”
KMT Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉), a Sediq who authored the bulk of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies promising to improve basic infrastructure for Aborigines, said that after one year in office, the CIP had failed to deliver on any of the items included in Ma’s platform and that Chang’s “passive” leadership was to blame.
“Many Aboriginal groups have said the Ma administration bounced its check when it comes to the promises he made them. But the CIP is the government agency that handles the matter,” Kung said.
“What have you done lately besides going to ribbon-cutting ceremonies?” Kung asked, adding that activists had called for Chang’s resignation on numerous occasions over the past year.
DEFENSE
Chang, an Amis, said the proposal for budgets appropriation had already been submitted to the Executive Yuan for review, adding that many projects, including improving farm roads, had begun.
Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順), another KMT lawmaker, requested that Chang withdraw the current draft of the Aboriginal autonomy bill and other related documents that were tabled under the previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and to push for the current administration’s version.
“You need to do it quickly because the legislature will soon be in recess and after the break we will be busy examining next year’s budget. If you delay tabling the government’s version of the bill, no progress will be made until this time next year,” she said.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), who is also committee chairman, urged Chang to withdraw the proposal immediately so that “the legislature won’t be forced to review a proposal submitted by the DPP.”
Chang said that an immediate withdrawal could be construed by the Aboriginal community as a signal that the government had failed to deliver on its promises.
The CIP will hold several public hearings to listen to Aborigines before writing a new draft, she said.
ERROR
Meanwhile, Huang said that in its online dictionary, the Ministry of Education (MOE) had recently listed the title “head leader” (頭目) as ringleader of a criminal organization.
In Aboriginal culture, the term is an honorable title bestowed upon the patriarch of a tribe who has demonstrated superior wisdom, leadership and bravery.
While Chang said she was unaware of the error, an aide said the MOE had agreed to make the appropriate corrections.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS