Saying that the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) was historically a stopover point for Ketagalan Aboriginal seafarers and the site of a traditional religious ritual that used to take place every 12 years, a descendent of the tribe, Lin Sheng-yi (林勝義), yesterday said he plans to take a 180-member delegation to revisit the island and restore the ritual.
“Ancient Ketagalans visited the Diaoyutais, it’s part of our traditional domain,” Lin told a news conference in Taipei. “The name ‘Diaoyutai’ is a Hoklo phonetic translation of the term ‘Diaoyida’a,’ which means ‘a midway point’ in the Ketagalan language.”
He said that prior to the Japanese colonization of Taiwan in 1895, every 12 years, the Ketagalans would hold religious rituals on the island to pay respect to their ancestral spirits.
“I hereby announce that I will organize a 180-member delegation — including 36 Ketagalan warriors — to sail to the islands between March and May next year to pay respect to our ancestral spirits,” he said.
The Ketagalan are an indigenous tribe that once inhabited most of the Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市) area — as well as Keelung and parts of Yilan County.
However, when the Han Chinese immigrants arrived in the region, the Ketagalans “disappeared” due to cultural assimilation and intermarriages, leaving only a handful of Ketagalan descendants aware of their cultural heritage.
Archaeological findings — now on display in the Shishanhang Museum in Bali District (八里), New Taipei City — show that the Ketagalans were actively traded with neighboring countries.
Lin said he has yet to contact the government about his plan, but he added that “it’s the government’s responsibility to protect us in our sailing to the Diaoyutais.”
“If the government is unwilling to protect us, we would welcome the help of any other countries — including China,” he said.
Pan Jee-yang (潘紀揚), chairman of the Taiwan Association for Rights Advancements for Pingpu Plains Aborigines, said he has written to the UNESCO, asking it to send a delegation to investigate archaeological sites and the ecosystem of the islands, hoping the Diaoyutais would be listed as a World Heritage site.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about