Following President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) closely watched apology to Aborigines in August, the Council of Indigenous Peoples announced plans to publish a full text of the apology in 18 languages, including 16 officially recognized Aboriginal languages, as well as English and Japanese.
Council Minister Icyang Parod told a news conference in New Taipei City on Wednesday that Tsai’s apology, made on behalf of the government for the discrimination and neglect of Aborigines over the past 400 years, was not only the first step toward reconciliation and peace, but also the first time any head of state in the Asian region has offered an apology to Aborigines, adding that it was historically significant for Indigenous peoples.
The apology, made on Aug. 1, Indigenous People’s Day, was given in Mandarin after a ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, if front of representatives of Taiwan’s 16 recognized Aboriginal communities.
Photo: Wu Po-wei, Taipei Times
The council assembled a team of 48 translators and linguistic experts to translate the text into 16 Aboriginal languages so that more people could understand the content of the apology.
This took four months to complete, Parod said.
The translated scripts are given with the original text in each version, with pictures of Aboriginal representatives, as well as pictures from the event featuring Tsai, Parod said.
“We plan to publish them soon, which is not only a step toward implementing historical justice and transitional justice for Aborigines, but could also elevate the status of the Aboriginal languages,” Parod said.
It is also the first time that the nation has published an important government document in Aboriginal languages, Parod said, adding that the documents show that the government wants to conserve and advance Aboriginal languages.
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
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS