Lawmakers across party lines yesterday accused the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) of failing to fully defend Aboriginal rights, allowing development projects to take place on traditional Aboriginal domains without residents’ consent despite the demands of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法).
Holding a map that shows more than a dozen ongoing or planned development projects located within Aboriginal domains in Taitung County, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) accused council Minister Sun Ta-chuan (孫大川) of failing to defend Aboriginal rights.
“You are a Puyuma from Taitung County, minister. Look at this map, look at what’s happening in your home county,” Tuan said during a question-and-answer session of the Internal Administration Committee meeting. “In the past few years, Aborigines have been protesting development projects in their traditional domains. Why are you not doing anything to help them?”
By law, Aboriginal communities must provide consent before development or research activities can take place in their domains, Tuan said.
“The council has always stood firmly for the rights of Aborigines and we’re concerned about development projects in traditional domains,” Sun said. “However, we’re a country based on the rule of law and before the bills on Aboriginal land and sea domains and autonomy are passed, we cannot do anything legally to stop such development projects.”
“I plead for help from all lawmakers to quickly pass legislation so that we can have a legal basis to defend Aborigines’ right to their traditional domains,” he added.
However, Tuan said the council is not working hard enough even when it has the legal capacity to do so.
The council is not doing anything to help the Tao Aborigines’ struggle to remove nuclear waste from Orchid Island, also known as Lanyu (蘭嶼), Tuan said, adding it was unable to stop Nantian Village (南田) in Taitung County’s Daren Township (達仁) — a traditional domain of the Paiwan Aborigines — from being a candidate for a new nuclear waste storage facility even though a council representative had participated in Taiwan Power Co’s site selection meetings.
Sun said the council representative protested at the meeting, but those who agreed to make Nantian a candidate outnumbered the council representative in the voting.
Sun again asked the legislature for help in passing laws related to Aboriginal land and autonomy.
Tuan said the legislature has yet to receive draft bills from the council and asked Sun to do so by the end of next month, to which Sun said a bill was being reviewed by the Executive Yuan and that he could not guarantee when it would be referred to the legislature.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) — an Amis Aborigine — and Chien Tung-ming (簡東明) — a Paiwan — as well as People First Party Legislator Lin Cheng-er (林正二) — an Amis — also criticized the council and the government for what they said was slow progress in fulfilling promises of Aboriginal autonomy.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS