Legislators yesterday questioned President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) approach to restoring Aboriginal rights to promote transitional justice.
Non-partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅), who is half Atayal, expressed frustration with Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod, saying that a remark by Parod showed he was not serious about seeking transitional justice on behalf of Aborigines.
At an earlier meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, Parod had told Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Wellington Ku (顧立雄) that he would help put together a truth and reconciliation commission under the Presidential Office to streamline efforts to restore land traditionally belonging to Aborigines and correct what he said were skewed historic perspectives about Aborigines.
Showing photographs of Parod leading protests against the government’s seizure of Aboriginal territories before taking on the council post, Chin said Parod was conflicted by his dual identity as an Amis activist and an official, and therefore not being entirely honest, as she questioned whether the proposed commission would have any administrative power.
“Do you think we Aborigines will mistake a job at the Presidential Office for real power? We are not stupid,” Chin said.
She questioned whether establishing the commission under the Presidential Office means the opinions of commission members from the agencies involved in pushing Aboriginal affairs would be neglected and, if so, asked why Tsai proposed the establishment of such a commission and the transitional justice bill when her white paper on Aboriginal policy would have sufficed.
Chin demanded that Parod provisionally announce the scope of traditional Aboriginal territories no later than the end of his term, to prevent excessive development plans such as the Miramar Resort.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Chou Chun-mi (周春米) asked Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) whether she thinks that establishing a commission under Tsai or an “Aboriginal land investigation commission” under the Control Yuan, as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Tian-tsai (鄭天財) suggested, was a better option to restore Aboriginal land.
Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said he does not foresee a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan in the next decade, although it is “perfectly possible” that China could seek to weaken the island’s status. “I don’t expect an all-out attack on Taiwan in, say, a 10-year period, which is as far as I can see,” Kissinger said yesterday in an interview on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS. Kissinger, 98, who also served as national security adviser and helped pave the way for then-US president Richard Nixon’s historic 1972 visit to China, said that “everyone wants to be a China hawk” and
Taiwanese actress Big S, also known as Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), and Chinese restaurateur Wang Xiaofei (汪小菲) officially announced their divorce yesterday, stating the decision was cordial and that they would be raising their two children together. The statement came by proxy through the couple’s legal counsel, filed by both Wang and Hsu. Hsu and Wang thanked fans for their love and support, with the couple saying that fate had blessed them with a time of happiness, and that they were grateful for their time together. They said that while they walked hand-in-hand as husband and wife, they would continue a cordial relationship as
UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS: Tortuous and possibly criminal penalties doled out by nine officers to a napping cadet have sparked calls for standardized discipline rules Defense experts called on the Ministry of Defense to create a standard code for maintaining discipline, after local media on Saturday reported that nine officers were reprimanded for administering inappropriate punishments to a conscript in Kinmen. Earlier last week, a boot camp recruit surnamed Chung (鍾) was stripped of his shirt and had icepacks placed against his armpits and crotch as a punishment for napping during physical training, the Kinmen Defense Command confirmed on Saturday. The command cadre of the battalion, including the battalion commander, the political warfare officer and the sergeant who ordered the drill have been transferred and could face
DESTABILIZING: Beijing’s efforts to choke Taiwan, pressure its friends and hamper its democracy are a threat to the world, AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk said China’s provocative military activities near Taiwan are destabilizing and risk “miscalculation,” American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk said yesterday, reiterating the US’ objection to any unilateral changes to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait. Oudkirk made the remarks in a speech at the annual conference of the Association of International Relations in Taipei. “In the Indo-Pacific region, America’s effort to resolve and manage differences with the leadership of the People’s Republic of [PRC] faces distinct challenges,” she said, referencing a range of actions by China that she said run counter to the shared values and interests of the
RSS