The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) four Aboriginal lawmakers and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) turned down invitations to today’s ceremony in which President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to apologize on behalf of the government to the nation’s Aborigines.
More than 100 Aboriginal representatives and lawmakers have been invited to the event at the Presidential Office Building.
KMT Legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟), an Amis Aborigine, yesterday said that he would begin his tenure with the KMT caucus today, so it would be inappropriate for him to attend the event.
Liao said he has discussed the issue with KMT legislators Sra Kacaw, another Amis, Chien Tung-ming (簡東明), who is a Paiwan, and Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉), who is Sediq and Atayal, and they said they do not plan to attend the ceremony.
Liao said that since former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has already apologized to Aborigines, Aboriginal communities are concerned about what Tsai will say.
Liao said that National Security Council senior adviser Yao Jen-to (姚人多) has said Tsai’s apology would be a “campaign move” and asked what the objective of the campaign would be, adding that Aborigines would not be happy if the apology has nothing concrete to offer.
Liao urged Tsai to discuss her stance on the return of Aboriginal lands and the management of natural resources.
New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal, also an Amis, said she would join Aboriginal rights advocacy groups that are to demonstrate outside the Presidential Office Building.
NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said he would attend the ceremony.
Pacidal said that she approves of Tsai’s attitude and supports many of Tsai’s Aboriginal policies, but since she had promised Aboriginal rights advocacy groups that she would join them, she decided to honor her pledge by attending a demonstration about elderly care issues for Aborigines.
Pacidal said she hopes Tsai would confirm that the government and Aborigines are in a “quasi-state-to-state relationship,” so that Aboriginal communities can become political entities.
She called on Tsai to urge the government to propose legislation on transitional justice for Aborigines and implement the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民族基本法).
Several Aboriginal rights groups plan to demonstrate outside the Presidential Office Building today, with an alliance for elderly care for Aborigines planning to march from the Legislative Yuan to the Presidential Office Building to submit a petition, while another group is to march from Sijhou Aboriginal Community (溪洲部落) in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) to the Presidential Office Building to demand justice for Aborigines.
‘HIDDEN GEM’: The city earned plaudits for its low crime rate, world-class healthcare system, cheap cost of living and easy public transportation Taipei has been named the 10th best city in the world for quality of living in an annual survey by the editors of Monocle, a UK-based global affairs and lifestyle magazine. The survey, which is to be published in the magazine’s July/August issue, selected the world’s top 25 cities based on factors including cost of living, retail, hospitality, culture and access to green spaces, as well as feedback from Monocle correspondents. Taipei’s 10th place finish was one place down from a year earlier. The survey ranked Copenhagen as the world’s best city, with Zurich, Lisbon, Helsinki and Stockholm rounding out the top five.
GLOBAL STRATEGY: Indo-Pacific alliances need reinforcement to prevent Chinese occupation of Taiwan, which would threaten Japan, Hawaii and Australia, Pompeo said The US should officially recognize Taiwan as a free, independent nation and establish official diplomatic ties, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington on Friday. Every US president since Harry Truman has considered Taiwan’s existence to be of utmost importance to US national security, Pompeo said. Taiwan is a principal US partner in technology and economic matters, and if China were to capture Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain, it would severely hamper the US economy, Pompeo said. Should China occupy Taiwan, it would severely weaken US influence in the Indo-Pacific region and its surrounding areas,
NO COMORBIDITIES: The girl died of encephalitis, the sixth COVID-19-related death of the disease this year and 19th death of a child from the virus, the center said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 52,213 new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases and 171 deaths from the virus, including a four-year-old girl, who had been diagnosed with encephalitis, and a 19-year-old man, who had underlying health conditions. “The caseloads are usually higher on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but they [yesterday] fell 7.3 percent from the day before,” Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. Chuang, who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that most cities and counties reported a drop in new cases, and the CECC expects fewer than 50,000 new cases today. The center said that 150 of
LIMIT: The CECC has capped the number of weekly arrivals to 25,000, which critics said has limited the number of available flights and caused ticket prices to soar The government is not likely to raise the cap on the number of inbound travelers before the end of this month, despite the apparent effect on the number of inbound flights, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday last week eased quarantine rules for inbound travelers, who must undergo three days of home quarantine upon arrival and spend another four days in self-initiated disease prevention. It also capped the number of inbound travelers to 25,000 per week. The weekly limit has drawn criticism that it has limited the number of flights
RSS