The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) four Aboriginal lawmakers and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) turned down invitations to today’s ceremony in which President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to apologize on behalf of the government to the nation’s Aborigines.
More than 100 Aboriginal representatives and lawmakers have been invited to the event at the Presidential Office Building.
KMT Legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟), an Amis Aborigine, yesterday said that he would begin his tenure with the KMT caucus today, so it would be inappropriate for him to attend the event.
Liao said he has discussed the issue with KMT legislators Sra Kacaw, another Amis, Chien Tung-ming (簡東明), who is a Paiwan, and Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉), who is Sediq and Atayal, and they said they do not plan to attend the ceremony.
Liao said that since former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has already apologized to Aborigines, Aboriginal communities are concerned about what Tsai will say.
Liao said that National Security Council senior adviser Yao Jen-to (姚人多) has said Tsai’s apology would be a “campaign move” and asked what the objective of the campaign would be, adding that Aborigines would not be happy if the apology has nothing concrete to offer.
Liao urged Tsai to discuss her stance on the return of Aboriginal lands and the management of natural resources.
New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal, also an Amis, said she would join Aboriginal rights advocacy groups that are to demonstrate outside the Presidential Office Building.
NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said he would attend the ceremony.
Pacidal said that she approves of Tsai’s attitude and supports many of Tsai’s Aboriginal policies, but since she had promised Aboriginal rights advocacy groups that she would join them, she decided to honor her pledge by attending a demonstration about elderly care issues for Aborigines.
Pacidal said she hopes Tsai would confirm that the government and Aborigines are in a “quasi-state-to-state relationship,” so that Aboriginal communities can become political entities.
She called on Tsai to urge the government to propose legislation on transitional justice for Aborigines and implement the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民族基本法).
Several Aboriginal rights groups plan to demonstrate outside the Presidential Office Building today, with an alliance for elderly care for Aborigines planning to march from the Legislative Yuan to the Presidential Office Building to submit a petition, while another group is to march from Sijhou Aboriginal Community (溪洲部落) in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) to the Presidential Office Building to demand justice for Aborigines.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS