Saying that the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) was historically a stopover point for Ketagalan Aboriginal seafarers and the site of a traditional religious ritual that used to take place every 12 years, a descendent of the tribe, Lin Sheng-yi (林勝義), yesterday said he plans to take a 180-member delegation to revisit the island and restore the ritual.
“Ancient Ketagalans visited the Diaoyutais, it’s part of our traditional domain,” Lin told a news conference in Taipei. “The name ‘Diaoyutai’ is a Hoklo phonetic translation of the term ‘Diaoyida’a,’ which means ‘a midway point’ in the Ketagalan language.”
He said that prior to the Japanese colonization of Taiwan in 1895, every 12 years, the Ketagalans would hold religious rituals on the island to pay respect to their ancestral spirits.
“I hereby announce that I will organize a 180-member delegation — including 36 Ketagalan warriors — to sail to the islands between March and May next year to pay respect to our ancestral spirits,” he said.
The Ketagalan are an indigenous tribe that once inhabited most of the Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市) area — as well as Keelung and parts of Yilan County.
However, when the Han Chinese immigrants arrived in the region, the Ketagalans “disappeared” due to cultural assimilation and intermarriages, leaving only a handful of Ketagalan descendants aware of their cultural heritage.
Archaeological findings — now on display in the Shishanhang Museum in Bali District (八里), New Taipei City — show that the Ketagalans were actively traded with neighboring countries.
Lin said he has yet to contact the government about his plan, but he added that “it’s the government’s responsibility to protect us in our sailing to the Diaoyutais.”
“If the government is unwilling to protect us, we would welcome the help of any other countries — including China,” he said.
Pan Jee-yang (潘紀揚), chairman of the Taiwan Association for Rights Advancements for Pingpu Plains Aborigines, said he has written to the UNESCO, asking it to send a delegation to investigate archaeological sites and the ecosystem of the islands, hoping the Diaoyutais would be listed as a World Heritage site.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS