While it continues to experience a net loss of residents, Hualien County’s population of Aborigines has risen, the latest information from the Ministry of the Interior shows.
As a result, Aboriginal Hualien County councilors are demanding that the county government increase its budget and programs for Aboriginal welfare and social services.
Hualien County Civil Affairs Department Deputy Director Hsiao Ming-chia (蕭明甲) said ministry statistics show the county’s population of 323,897 as of December last year had declined from a high of of 358,981 in 1995. Due to emigration and other factors, the county’s population has decreased by 25,084 over the past 18 years, an average reduction of 1,393 people per year, he said.
The county has seen its population of Aborigines rising to 91,143, the highest ever for the county, the statistics show.
The latest data from the ministry indicated that of the 91,143 Aborigines, 35,172 are residents of mountain townships, while 55,971 are residents of lowland townships.
Aborigines now make up more than one-quarter, or 28.13 percent, of the county’s population.
“Our overall population decline is due to many reasons. These include people migrating to other cities and regions of Taiwan to seek better job opportunities and the low birth rate of our young married couples,” Hsiao said.
“The Hualien County Government is taking action to mitigate the population decline by introducing several incentive programs,” he added.
Among the programs are two mass weddings each year are sponsored by the county government, a NT$10,000 subsidy for each newborn child, free tuition for children aged four and over at public kindergartens, tuition vouchers for children attending private kindergartens, free tuition for elementary school and junior-high school and subsidies for students’ school lunches, Hsiao said.
“We hope these programs can boost the birth rate of Hualien County residents and halt the negative population growth trend,” he said.
Hualien County Councilor Tibus Yilay, an Amis Aborigine, said the increase in the Aborigine population was welcome.
“It enhances the proportion and total number of Aborigine residents in our county. However, the current government policies for Aborigines’ welfare and social services remain insufficient,” she said.
“Many Aborigines cannot find jobs, or have low incomes. They are an underprivileged group in society that needs support,” she said, adding that she will cooperate with other Hualien County councilors to improve rights protection and social welfare services for Aboriginal residents of the county to improve their living conditions in accordance with the rise in population.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by