Following protests from Aboriginal groups, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday afternoon apologized for recent remarks he had made about Aborigines.
He said that he had not meant to humiliate indigenous people.
At issue was remarks Ma made at a campaign event on Dec. 8 in Sindian City (
The Amis community in Sindian is facing relocation by the Taipei County Government since their houses are built on a flood plain.
"No one should live where there is a danger of flooding. If you continue to live there, you will have problems," Ma told Saoma.
However, what Ma said next has drawn outraged reactions from Aboriginal communities.
"When you come into our city, you become one of us ... I [will] see you as a human being, as a citizen. I will educate you well, and give you opportunities," Ma said. "Aborigines should adjust their mentality -- if you come into the city, you have to play by our rules."
Ma said yesterday he had meant to say that the general public should take care of indigenous people and not discriminate against them if they move to the city.
When first approached by reporters for comment earlier in the day, Ma said he was "willing to apologize if my remarks made some people uncomfortable."
The absence of an apology enraged Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod, who held a press conference yesterday morning at which he condemned Ma for his comments and urged him to apologize.
"We Aborigines of all 13 tribes find Ma's statement unacceptable," Icyang said.
"Ma not only refused to admit his mistake, but said people have `taken his words out of context.' Today, he said he would be willing to apologize if some people felt uncomfortable about his words," Icyang said. "We are here to condemn Ma's ignorance of Aboriginal peoples and his arrogant and prejudiced statement."
"We'd also like to tell him that [his remarks] did not just make some people feel `uncomfortable,' but also angered all 480,000 Aborigines in the country," he said.
Icyang also protested against a comment Ma had made on several occasions to the effect that "Aborigines are not genetically disadvantaged, they just don't have opportunities."
The statement was printed on Ma's campaign flyers describing his stance on Aboriginal issues, and Ma also used it during his Dec. 8 visit to Sindian.
"By saying so, Ma keeps telling people that there is a genetic difference between Aborigines and non-Aborigines. This only shows he is a racist at heart," Icyang said. "He should apologize to Aborigines, as well as to Taiwanese society."
Members of several Aboriginal rights groups also staged a demonstration outside of Ma's campaign headquarters yesterday morning.
"Ma should withdraw from the presidential election. We don't need a president like this," Taiwan Aboriginal Society secretary-general Isak Afo told the crowd.
A minor physical clash broke out when demonstrators presented their protest letter to staff members at Ma's campaign headquarters.
Demonstrators were angered when staffers handed out flyers about Ma's campaign statement on Aboriginal policies.
Staffers allegedly also shoved some of the protesters.
Angered campaign staff then yelled at Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ying (
The two sides were quickly separated by police.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the