Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday announced her Aboriginal affairs policy, pledging to establish a national investigation and settlement commission, implement Aboriginal autonomy, create just and equal chances for Aborigines in cities and revitalize the tribal economy.
Tsai, while attending the launch of a support group formed by Aborigines in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Shulin District (樹林), said the DPP’s 10-year policy guidelines stated that the most important goal is to “realize justice” to lead to a future where all ethnicities live in harmony.
Tsai said that when the DPP was in power, it did its best to stand by the side of Aborigines. However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KTM), after taking power, not only failed to propose new laws to benefit Aborigines, it even blocked the DPP’s proposed Aboriginal land and marine spaces act (原住民土地及海域法), she said.
The KMT wished to forcefully pass the indigenous people’s autonomous area act even when the contents of the draft were not considered acceptable by the majority of Aboriginal people, she said, adding that the KMT government should not pass laws in haste just to have something to show for its policies when it has not given Aborigines real power or peace.
Tsai pledged to set up a national investigation and settlement commission to investigate the loss of Aboriginal land and culture and various other unequal treatments and would compensate Aboriginal people for past misdeeds.
The president should apologize to Aboriginal people for their losses during the colonial era on behalf of the government, she said, adding that the move would show that the government is willing to change and “to re-establish relations between the Aboriginal people and the nation.”
“The president should take the lead and set an example for all other government chiefs and give back to the Aboriginal people the respect they deserve; and on a new basis of mutual benefit, the government should establish policies and take the first step in establishing friendly relations with Aboriginal tribes,” Tsai said.
Tsai said she would recognize the rights of Aboriginal tribes and implement an Aboriginal autonomous government, establishing autonomous areas for tribes who wish it.
The autonomous areas would be given steady funding, giving Aboriginals “true autonomous rule, unlike the KMT’s unwillingness to give a steady source of funding and autonomy over natural resources,” Tsai said.
There should be equal and just chances for development of Aboriginal populations in urban areas, Tsai said.
Because more than half of the Aboriginal population currently lives in cities and remit money back to their elders in tribal areas, Tsai said there should be systems put in place to help pass on Aboriginal culture and language in the future and also provide an active job market, good education, housing opportunities and chances to participate in politics for Aboriginal people.
Jobs have to be created for the revitalization of tribal economies, Tsai said, adding that funds and plans have to be developed to let tribes develop their local economies in accordance with their characteristics.
Aboriginal-only industries and Aboriginal-based financial loans should also be put in place so that they no longer have to be other people’s workers, but can have the chance to develop their own businesses and be their own masters, she said.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS