Former Council of Indigenous Peoples minister Walis Pelin, a member of the Sediq people, on Friday announced his decision to run for legislator on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ticket.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) joined Walis Pelin in his home village of Sdringan in Nantou County as he accepted the DPP’s nomination to contend for one of the three seats that represent the mountains Aborigines.
The veteran politician, who served as minister from 2005 to 2007, failed in a 2012 legislative bid on the People First Party ticket.
Before his term as minister, Walis Pelin served four legislative terms.
Over the past seven years, he has focused on promoting organic farming as a sustainable business for rural Aboriginal communities.
During a visit to Walis Pelin’s farm on Friday, Tsai praised his work on the passage of the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民基本法) and the transfer of Aboriginal land rights from the Ministry of the Interior to the Council of Indigenous Peoples.
She said that a strong financial basis should be the pivotal concern in promoting Aboriginal autonomy, adding that the protection of Aboriginal land rights is among the crucial issues that the DPP intends to address.
Walis Pelin is among the principle architects of Tsai’s Aboriginal policies for her ongoing presidential campaign, sources have said.
Walis Pelin would face Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) incumbent Yosi Takun, also a Sediq, in the Sediq heartland of Renai Township (仁愛) in Nantou County.
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