Taipei Times: Being an Aboriginal politician, what is your priority agenda concerning Aboriginal affairs?
May Chin (高金素梅): To recover our lost ancestral land. We Aborigines have been here on this land long before anyone else. Yet, those who came later seem to forget the fact that we Aborigines, not they, are the owners of this land. No land, no mother, no roots. To restore our lost land is a primary step in Aborigines' recovering their dignity, respect and confidence.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
We Aborigines are people of peace. However, when nothing else works, we are forced to adopt more aggressive tactics to demand our rights. I, along with other advocates for Aboriginal rights, am planning to take legal action to demand the return of our ancestral lands. We know, however, we are most unlikely to have Taiwanese lawyers taking our case because then the case will be more prone to politicization.
Taipei Times: How do you go about persuading people who do not agree with your saying that Aborigines are the owners of the land?
Chin: I will it prove to them with historical accounts. Most of our ancestral lands have been occupied by outside forces ever since the Dutch and Spanish colonial period in the 17th century. The following Cheng rule, Manchu colonial period and the Japanese colonial period all saw annexation of our ancestral land.
When the KMT came in 1949, they continued to deplete our resources and to impose many restrictions upon the mountain areas inhabited by our ancestors. Lands that originally belonged to us have either been put under the management of government agencies or claimed as national property. Places noted for their natural beauty and tourism potential have been designated national parks. Land upon which the Aborigines rely for survival has been taken away without seeking Aborigines' consent.
Taipei Times: What are the urgent issues currently confronting aborigines?
Chin: High unemployment rates, low economic status and a disadvantageous educational background. And these three issues are mutually reinforcing in a vicious cycle that keeps Aborigines imprisoned at the bottom of the social ladder. Since, back in their traditional tribal villages, their resources and lands have been annexed, large numbers of Aborigines go to the cities to earn their daily bread. But what can they do with a low educational background? Many of them become low-paid manual laborers such as construction workers, truck drivers, janitors and parking-lot guards.
With the sagging economy in recent years and the importation of foreign laborers, there is less demand for construction workers since fewer building projects are underway. And more often than not, these Aborigines find themselves being the first to be fired.
Low economic status results in low-paid jobs or unemployment. That being so, how could they get a chance of higher education? Really, what's the point of the government's affirmative action toward Aborigines seeking college entrance when these students can't afford tuition in the first place? Considering that there are Aboriginal families now struggling just to pay for their kids' elementary school meals, how much more difficult would it be for them to enroll in higher education that often requires large sums for tuition? Financial aid from the government is little help because most of these Aboriginal students don't have sufficient funds to pay for their textbooks, room and board. We are now in the hi-tech information technology society of the 21st century, yet many of the nation's Aborigines still remain uncompetitive, stuck at the level of manual jobs with no hi-tech skill and knowledge. Many people now are talking about 8-inch wafer fabs, but many tribal elders have no idea what this discussion is about. The government should really apologize to the Aborigines for not taking good care of them and finding ways to elevate their economic, educational and social status.
Taipei Times: Other than these issues, what other problems do Aborigines often face?
Chin: Back in the traditional tribal villages, health clinics often lack up-to-date advanced medical equipment and sufficient medical staff. Many tribal elders don't speak a word of Mandarin. When they are ill and go to these health clinics, there are no interpreters to assist them in describing their ailments to the doctors. They then just get sent home after some basic check-ups and with simple medication.
Transportation is another issue. Although the Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Lin-san (林陵三) spoke the truth that there are roads leading to these mountainous tribal villages, what about the condition of these roads? Most of them are not asphalt roads but rock and gravel that are rough and uneven. When I see the Taipei City Government spending money on planting roadside flowers, I think to myself: Wouldn't it be great if that money were used to build asphalt roads in the mountainous areas?
Taipei Times: What kind of solutions are possible for issues such as these?
Chin: Solutions to these issues will easily come as long as the core of the whole issue, our preliminary concern, is being taking care of -- returning our lost land. When we have been given back what is ours and what used to be belonged to us has been restored, then we will regain our recognition and respect as Aborigines and solutions to all other Aboriginal issues will soon follow. Only by being regarded with respect can we Aborigines ensure fair treatment.
The government needs to redress and revitalize its Aboriginal policies and legislation. Aborigines in Taiwan have long been suffering from unequal treatment ranging from economic exploitation and social discrimination to political oppression and cultural negligence. I, among many other Aborigines, wish to rediscover and restore Taiwan's Aboriginal history and cultures by having a separate educational system for Aborigines. Aborigines' ethnic consciousness has long been neglected and suppressed as subordinate to mainstream Han history and culture. Aboriginal kids in schools need to learn and have the knowledge of their own culture and history in their schoolbooks and not just Han history and culture.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as