Aborigines worldwide contribute less to global warming but suffer the most from its impact, a National Dong Hwa University professor said yesterday at the World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference in Taitung.
“Most indigenous peoples around the world are not a major source of air pollution, energy overuse or carbon dioxide emissions,” said Jolan Hsieh (謝若蘭), an associate professor at the College of Indigenous Studies. “However, who sustains the most damage of all when natural disasters occur? It seems like it’s obviously the indigenous people.”
Hsieh, a Siraya Aborigine, urged Aborigines to contribute their traditional wisdom to help save the planet.
Aboriginal villages in southern Taiwan were hard hit by floods during Typhoon Morakot last August.
Etan Pavavalung, a Paiwan Aborigine, said his tribe had to relocate after the typhoon.
“Many of my tribe’s elders blamed the disaster on the government’s wrong policies on mountain protection and land development,” he said.
Masao Aki, director of Taiwan Indigenous Television (TITV), said the station set up a call-in service to help local Aborigines find their missing family members after Morakot, and also worked with citizen journalists to report on the devastation and post updates on social networking Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
TITV’s video footage from the disaster areas was shared with Taiwan’s mainstream media and foreign outlets, including the BBC, CNN and NHK, he said.
“We have created a standard operating procedure for future disaster reporting,” he said.
Marshall Islands Ambassador Phillip Kabua told the conference that time was running out.
“The clock is ticking away fast,” he said.
Lulama Mokhobo, an executive of South Africa’s Public Broadcasting Services, ended the session by asking participants to stand and observe a minute of silence for those who suffered as a result of climate change.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS