Amis Aborigines yesterday protested outside the legislature against a proposed development law and development projects in traditional Amis areas along the east coast, plans for which they claimed local residents were not consulted.
“We demand that Aborigines be consulted and involved in any development projects undertaken on traditional Aboriginal lands as the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民族基本法) stipulates,” Kawlo Iyun Pacidal, a member of the Amis Defense Alliance, told reporters at the demonstration.
“We also demand that a co-management mechanism between locals and the operator of any development projects be established,” Pacidal said. “Based on the first two demands, we are asking for a halt to the planned Baosheng [Aquarium Park] project.”
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Four tourism facilities, including theme parks, resorts and hotels, are to be built around the Sansiantai (三仙台) area in Taitung County, a traditional Amis domain known by the tribe as “Pisiliang.”
The Baosheng project has attracted special attention because construction was scheduled to start on Monday, though it was postponed indefinitely because of strong opposition from local residents, said Namoh Nofu Pacidal, another member of the Amis Defense Alliance.
“The developer [of the Baosheng project] called a meeting with local residents on May 30, but did not allow the locals to talk and the purpose of the meeting was only to announce that construction was to begin within a week,” Namoh Nofu Pacidal said. “When they made their presentation, the locals requested Amis interpretation because many elders could not understand Mandarin, but the request was rejected.”
While the situation remains unresolved, the alliance called on the government and developers to abide by the Aboriginal Basic Act, and refrain from development projects without consent from Aborigines.
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS