To promote transitional justice for Aborigines, the government should clearly define the scope of Aboriginal territories, lawmakers agreed unanimously at a legislative session.
The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday last week passed the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), which is aimed at redressing injustices perpetrated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration during the authoritarian era between Aug. 15, 1945, when the Japanese government surrendered in World War II, and Nov. 6, 1992, when the Period of National Mobilization Against the Communist Rebellion ended in Kinmen and Lienchiang counties.
In a Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee meeting on Monday, lawmakers discussed five proposed draft bills on promoting transitional justice for Aborigines.
The bill should also deal with the injustices done to Aborigines and “comfort women” during the Japanese colonial era, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yosi Takun said, adding that his suggestion to have those issues included in the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice had been rejected.
In his draft bill, Yosi Takun defines Aboriginal territories in an attempt to help Aborigines reclaim property seized by the government since the Japanese colonial era.
In response, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod said the definitions would be tackled in a draft Aboriginal land and sea bill, which is being prepared by the council.
However, the minister’s remarks sparked criticism.
The minister’s view is totally unacceptable because the rights of Aborigines can never be severed from their lands, Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) said.
Legalizing Aborigines’ rights to reclaim their property certainly relates to historical justice, especially when there is a subcommittee on land matters under the Presidential Office’s Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee, New Power Party Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal said.
On the time frame for dealing with the historical injustices done to Aborigines, lawmakers differed.
Committee convener KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) suggested that the time frame start in 1895 when the Qing Empire ceded the sovereignty of Taiwan to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki.
However, the investigation of historical truths should not have a time limit, she added.
After no consensus about a time frame was reached at the meeting, the subject was again picked up on Wednesday when Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) tendered a motion that the committee should put off the discussion until the Executive Yuan presents its draft bill on promoting transitional justice for Aborigines in six months.
The Executive Yuan’s draft bill could be examined together with the five draft bills proposed by lawmakers at that time, Tuan said.
After Tuan’s motion was passed, Icyang promised that the council would propose a draft bill within six months.
Additional reporting by Cheng Hung-ta
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taipei over Beijing — a message that participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials. “Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,” said Galeano, a member of the newly-formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China. This trip and others like it — which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo
RSS