Several Aboriginal rights advocates yesterday lashed out at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for not keeping his promise to implement Aboriginal autonomy, for delaying reconstruction for victims of Typhoon Morakot and for his government’s inability to root out ethnic discrimination.
“Ma has been in power for three years now, and for us Aborigines, the past three years have been three years of suffering,” Icyang Parod, director of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of Aboriginal Affairs, told a press conference in Taipei.
“Aboriginal autonomy has not become a reality as Ma promised during the presidential campaign, ethnic discrimination against Aborigines remains and victims of Typhoon Morakot are still homeless,” Icyang said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
By discrimination, Icyang was referring to the recent controversy sparked by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee member Liao Wan-lung’s (廖萬隆) suggestion to a Central Standing Committee meeting that intermarriage between Aborigines and non-Aborigines be discouraged to maintain the “purity” of Aboriginal blood. Liao caused more outrage when he tried to clarify his remark by later telling reporters that most Aborigines are “mongrels.”
Aborgines were also upset in March by a Mainland Affairs Council-sponsored TV ad that referred to them as pa-nga, an Amis word for penis or “loose women.”
Taiwan Aboriginal Society president Tibusungu’e Vayayana said Ma’s administraion failed to respect Aboriginal rights to the environment and to autonomy. He also complained about the government’s slow progress in reconstruction of mostly Aboriginal regions devastated by Morakot.
In Alishan Township (阿里山), Chiayi County, where he comes from, “23 bridges were damaged during the storm and only one was rebuilt — by a non-governmental organization,” he said.
Government officials had promised to allocate government land for reconstruction projects, but “when the reconstruction process really started, the government unilaterally changed its mind and decided to take private land for reconstruction instead, without having discussed it with us,” he said.
“The government under Ma’s leadership is a disaster just like Morakot, only it’s one that’s been around for three years,” he said.
Hsu Cheng-wan (徐成丸), a chieftain of the Sakiraya tribe in Hualien County, said he voted for Ma in 2008, but “I would say that we should stand united and boycott Ma in the next election.”
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
RSS