The People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus yesterday urged all lawmakers to support its proposal to restore administrative power to several former Aboriginal townships that lost their township status when they were incorporated into special municipalities.
“The 10th amendment to the Constitution says that the state should, according to the wish of Aboriginal tribes, protect their status and the right to political participation,” PFP Legislator Lin Cheng-er (林正二) of the Amis tribe, told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.
“However, the amendment has become pointless as the government did nothing when several Aboriginal townships lost — and one is about to lose — their administrative power once they became part of the special municipalities,” he said.
Lin was referring to the administrative upgrade — or expansion — of New Taipei City (新北市), Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung in 2010, as well as the approved administrative upgrade of what is now Taoyuan County, which will take effect by Dec. 25, 2014.
Due to administrative changes, Wulai District (烏來) of New Taipei City, Heping District (和平) of Greater Taichung, Namasiya (那瑪夏), Taoyuan (桃源) and Maolin (茂林) districts of Greater Kaohsiung have lost their status of Aboriginal townships and have instead become districts in special municipalities.
According to the Local Government Act (地方制度法), Aboriginal townships enjoy independent budget powers and the position of an Aboriginal township mayor is reserved for Aborigines only.
However, as districts in special municipalities, these former Aboriginal townships now have to depend on the city governments and councils to decide on how their budget is spent — and are usually allocated reduced budgets — while the heads of these districts are appointed by mayors, without any restrictions on ethnicity.
Taoyuan County’s Fusing Township (復興), a legally recognized Atayal township, will face the same situation when Taoyuan County becomes the country’s sixth special municipality in 2014.
“As far as the budget is concerned, let’s take Namasiya for example,” Lin said. “Before becoming a municipal district, the Namasiya Township offices had a total budget of about NT$155.8 million [US$5.3 million]. However, after the administrative change, the total budget for Namasiya was cut down to NT$75.7 million last year. Not to mention the absence of protection for the Aboriginal right to political participation.”
Following Lin’s recommendation, the PFP caucus has proposed an amendment to the Local Government Act that would grant Aboriginal townships, as well as former Aboriginal townships, a special status even after administrative changes and called on other lawmakers, regardless of party affiliation, to support the proposal.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.
RSS