Two Aboriginal Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators said the party should apologize to Aborigines for its past failures in protecting their cultural and economic rights, and for not responding to their demands for land rights.
KMT legislators Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) and Sra Kacaw (鄭天財) made the remarks at the party’s weekly Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday, where they presented a special report on transitional justice for Aborigines in Taiwan.
Siluko said that although former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) introduced legislative reforms during his terms in office, Aborigines experienced significant erosion of their cultural heritage and language, continued economic exploitation and an absence of meaningful action for land rights throughout Ma’s administrations.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Siluko called on the KMT to issue a formal apology for its failures, convene representatives of Aboriginal groups to discuss a new Aboriginal policy platform and draft a bill that would enable Aborigines to reclaim land taken from them.
KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) did not respond directly to Siluko and Kacaw’s report, saying instead that the party has “a sufficient understanding of, and the determination to, implement cultural pluralism and international human rights treaties and declarations on the rights of Aborigines.”
She added that the KMT had, under Ma, passed the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law (原住民族基本法), implemented the four-year NT$50 billion (US$1.55 billion) plan for infrastructure serving Aborigines, and managed an Aborigine combined development fund.
“Before it came into power last month, the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] has said that Aborigines have suffered hundreds of years of deprivation, which had not been thoroughly reviewed or corrected during [Taiwan’s] democratization and that transitional justice should be promoted,” Hung said. “The DPP’s so-called transitional justice might appear correct, but it lacks substance and only misleads the public.”
She accused the DPP of stalling a bill in the legislature for Aboriginal self-rule, saying the DPP “does one thing and says another.”
She added that the KMT remains committed to promoting Aboriginal welfare through the legislation and that the party’s legislative caucus is to draft an Aboriginal policy platform.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘NARWHAL’: The indigenous submarine completed its harbor acceptance test recently and is now under heavy guard as it undergoes tests in open waters, a source said The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, yesterday began sea trials, sailing out of the Port of Kaohsiung, a military source said. Also known as the “Narwhal,” the vessel departed from CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard at about 8am, where it had been docked. More than 10 technicians and military personnel were on deck, with several others standing atop the sail. After recently completing its harbor acceptance test, the vessel has started a series of sea-based trials, including tests of its propulsion and navigational systems, while partially surfaced, the source said. The Hai Kun underwent tests in the port from
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS