Aboriginal rights advocates yesterday protested a proposed amendment to the Act for the Utilization and Transfer of Reserved Mountainous Land (山坡地保育利用條例) that seeks to relax restrictions on the transfer of Aboriginal reserve land, worrying it may accelerate the loss of Aboriginal land to non-Aborigines.
The existing law stipulates that, after obtaining ownership of a plot of Aboriginal reserve land, an Aboriginal person is required to hold it for at least five years before it can be sold.
Several Aboriginal lawmakers — Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Jeng Tian-tsair (鄭天財) and Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) of the Amis tribe, Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) of the Sediq and Chien Tung-ming (簡東明) of the Paiwan; People First Party Legislator Lin Cheng-er (林正二) of the Amis; and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) of the Atayal — have jointly proposed an amendment to do away with the five-year rule.
“If the amendment is passed, it would accelerate the loss of Aboriginal reserve land, since a lot of Aboriginal reserve land is being occupied by non-Aborigines for developing luxury houses, boutique hotels or resorts,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) told a press conference.
“The restriction should not be relaxed until there’s a way to prevent such a problem occuring,” he said.
Lin Chang-mao (林長茂) of the Green Formosa Front said that in Fusing Township (復興), Taoyuan County, a traditional domain of the Atayals, as much as 70 percent of the land is being used by non-Aborigines.
“At the moment, a private developer is planning a project which would occupy 145.72 hectares of mostly Aboriginal reserve land in Fusing. So far, 60 hectares of land is yet to be acquired due to the five-year rule,” Lin said.
“If the five-year rule is voided, non-Aboriginal developers could get hold of Aboriginal land immediately,” he added.
Jeng, the leading proposer of the amendment, disagreed with the advocates at a separate setting.
“The reason why I’ve proposed the amendment is that I think Aborigines should be given the same right as non-Aborigines when handling their land — if there’s no five-year rule for non-Aborigines, why should owners of Aboriginal land have to wait for five years before being allowed to sell?” Jeng said.
“There’s no need to worry about Aborigines losing their land, because according to the law, ownership of Aboriginal reserve land can only be transferred to another Aborigine,” he added.
He said there were non-Aborigines who would utilize Aboriginal reserve land by using an Aborigine as proxy to buy the land.
“But instead of putting restrictions on Aborigines, the government should go after non-Aborigines engaged in unlawful activities,” he said.
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
Carrefour Taiwan is to begin using a new name from the start of July, but it cannot divulge the name until then, the chairman of the supermarket chain's parent company said today. President Chain Store Co chairman Lo Chih-hsien (羅智先) was asked by reporters after a shareholders' meeting to confirm whether the company has settled on a new name for the supermarket brand. In March, the government-registered name of two Carrefour Taiwan branches was quietly changed to "Le Chia Kang" (樂家康) in Chinese, raising speculation that has been selected as the name. Lo said that because of local regulations and contractual obligations, the
The Philippines would likely be involved in any conflict over Taiwan due to its proximity to the democracy claimed by China, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, reiterating a stance that risks angering Beijing. “In the Philippines, we do not have a choice because Taiwan is so close to the Philippines and we have almost 200,000 Filipino nationals living and working in Taiwan,” Marcos said in an interview with Japanese media in Manila on Monday. The Philippine leader’s comments come ahead of a state visit to Japan next week, where he is to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to discuss security
RSS