Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday backtracked on remarks he made this weekend that he did not relish giving Aborigines the choice of continuing to live on their original tribal lands or relocating to villages newly built to accommodate victims affected by a deadly typhoon in August last year.
“I respect anyone who plans to [join the protest] to voice his or her opinions [on the government’s policies on post-Typhoon Morakot reconstruction], and I understand their feelings. I will conduct self-evaluation and work on that [policy],” Wu said.
He made the remarks in response to a planned overnight protest on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office on Friday night.
The protest was organized by Taiwan Aboriginal Tribes Action, a coalition of groups of victims of Morakot, which criticized the government for forcing the victims to move off of their native land.
Wu came under fire after telling a forum on Sunday, organized to highlight government achievements in post-Morakot reconstruction, that some Aboriginal activists who refused to relocate were “obstinate.”
“The government has spent several billion [dollars] building bridges and roads that have been washed away whenever there is a typhoon. There were occasions when military officers had to go by helicopter and risk their lives to save others ... People who care about Aborigines should encourage them to move out of dangerous [traditional lands],” Wu said.
Cabinet officials also called a press conference yesterday amid allegations that the government had forcefully removed typhoon victims who refused to relocate.
After experts inspected 291 typhoon-ravaged sites, the government determined that 19,191 people, or about 6,300 households, lived in unsafe areas.
About three-quarters of affected people are Aborigines.
Post-Typhoon Morakot Reconstruction Commission vice chairman Chen Chen-chuan (陳振川) said that as of February, about two-thirds, or 11,707 people, still lived in tribal areas, while the remainder lived in permanent housing built for the victims.
“This shows that we did not force victims to relocate to permanent houses,” Chen said.
Of the 291 sites examined, 136 were considered safe to live and 155 unsafe.
Chen said the reconstruction commission held 115 conferences to explain its relocation policy to people living in the unsafe areas and 141 meetings in which officials consulted with residents on their willingness to relocate.
The relocation of typhoon victims involved officials from the central government and local governments, as well as local politicians and residents, Chen said.
“We respect everyone’s choice to either live where they originally lived or to move into permanent houses,” Chen said.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
RSS