The Indigenous Peoples’ Action Coalition of Taiwan yesterday delivered petitions to the three presidential candidates, asking them to sign a new partnership agreement with the nation’s Aborigines and to grant them genuine autonomy.
“We regret that the three presidential candidates did not mention anything about their Aboriginal policies during their debate,” said Omi Wilang, the convener of the alliance.
He was referring to the first televised debate between the presidential candidates — President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) — which took place on Saturday.
“If, after two changes of power, presidential candidates still do not mention their Aboriginal policies, we suspect that mainstream politicians have a colonial mentality when facing the nation’s Aborigines,” he said at a press conference in Taipei.
In the petition that Omi delivered in person to each candidate’s headquarters after the press conference, the coalition asked the three presidential candidates to reaffirm the New Partnership Agreement that former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) signed with the nation’s Aborigines in 2002, which considers the nation’s Aboriginal tribes as quasi-nations in their dealings with the Republic of China government.
It also calls on the candidates to recognize the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to apologize to Aborigines on behalf of the state once elected, to implement the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民族基本法), to adopt an Aboriginal autonomy act and to abandon their colonial-like patronizing mentality when implementing Aboriginal policies and replace it with true respect for Aborigines.
Omi said the coalition would welcome all three candidates declaring their attitude toward the petition on Wednesday when representatives from the nation’s Aboriginal tribes will present their appeals to the candidates.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it