Independent Aboriginal Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) urged the government yesterday to more aggressively defend the interests of the Taiwanese people.
Chin made the comments at CKS International Airport upon her return from a visit to Japan heading a group of Taiwanese Aboriginals, saying that she had originally thought the current government to be more courageous than the previous one but was later disappointed to find that it has failed to properly protect the interests of the people.
Recalling that the government had vowed to make Taiwan's voice resonate around the world in the lead-up to the March 26 demonstration against China's "Anti-Secession" Law, Chin said she regrets that the government turned a deaf ear to Aborigines' call for help in their dispute with Japanese authorities.
Chin and her group appealed three days ago for the government's intervention in Tokyo when they were prohibited by Japanese police from leaving their bus to stage a protest at the Yasukuni Shrine. They were attempting to call for the removal of memorial tablets for Taiwanese Aboriginal soldiers who died while fighting for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, when Taiwan was a colony of Japan.
Chin and her followers claimed that the Aboriginal soldiers were forced to serve in the Japanese Imperial Army and would not want to be worshiped in a shrine set up to honor the deceased soldiers of a country that had invaded the nation.
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) didn't respond to Chin's call at that time, saying that he respects the Japanese authorities' handling of the protesters.
Chin said her regret has "almost turned to anger" amid reports that Taiwanese fishermen have been chased out of one of their traditional fishing grounds to the northeast of Taiwan by Japanese patrol boats in recent weeks.
She urged the government to deliver on its promise to protect the people of Taiwan and to look after their rights and interests "with deeds, and not empty words."
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said the ministry will continue negotiating with Tokyo.
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