An Aboriginal group yesterday criticized Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) over her remarks at a summit on cross-strait relations in Beijing.
Chin, who is of Atayal and Manchu ancestry, on Friday claimed to represent Taiwan’s Aborigines at the summit, where she advocated strict adherence to the so-called “1992 consensus” and the idea that “both sides of the Taiwan Strait are part of one China,” the Chinese-language China Times said.
Chin also called for a deepening of the cross-strait relationship and greater unity between the people of Taiwan and China, the paper said.
Photo taken from the Indigenous Youth Front Facebook page
“There is no consensus on the ‘1992 consensus.’ This ‘one China’ you [Chin] speak of has nothing to do with the indigenous people of Taiwan!” the Indigenous Youth Front said in an open letter.
Aboriginal officials should stick to their duties and not use their titles as bargaining chips to accumulate political capital, front representative Savungaz Valincinan said.
“Going to China and engaging in an exchange of personal benefits tramples on and degrades the sovereignty of the nation’s indigenous people,” she said.
Within four hours of its release, the letter, which lambasted other Aboriginal officials, such as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Sufin Siluko, Yosi Takun and Sra Kacaw for “losing sincerity” by promoting closer ties with China, had 500 signatures.
“We are Taiwanese Aborigines, not Chinese minorities. Please do not claim to represent us,” the letter said, adding that Aborigines have never signed an agreement with a modern nation to abandon their sovereign rights, and Aboriginal communities had fought for many years to have their sovereignty respected by the government.
The hard-fought achievements of the Aborigines of past generations made it possible to have the Republic of China Constitution amended to secure equal status and political participation for today’s Aborigines, it said.
Those who take part in political events in China as “Taiwanese Aboriginal representatives” are overstepping the boundaries of their positions, which are to protect the interests of Aborigines in the Legislative Yuan, it said.
Those representing Aborigines in the legislature are not involved at the community level, where local groups and their leaders were already in place, it said.
The failure of China’s “one country, two systems” formula in Hong Kong was proof that Beijing would never respect the sovereignty of Aborigines, it said.
“Although we are not fully satisfied with the current government in Taiwan, we are working hard to change it,” the letter said. “We definitely cannot accept a system that concentrates sovereignty into a single nation and does not respect Taiwan’s diversity.”
The “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted in 2006 to making up in 2000 — refers to an understanding between the KMT and Beijing that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,
As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft. The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft. The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect
Taiwanese singer and activist Panai Kusui on Saturday said that China’s censorship of her remarks about the Tiananmen Square Massacre at the Golden Melody Awards underscores the importance of Taiwan’s freedom. Beijing’s “actions further underscore the precious freedom in Taiwan,” Panai’s agent quoted the singer as saying after the ceremony. “The value of freedom can be felt at this moment,” Panai said. “I hope everyone will cherish what we have.” The indigenous singer won Best Taiwanese Album at the nation’s most prestigious music awards for Ia-Po (夜婆). During her acceptance speech, she urged people not to forget China’s 1989 crackdown on democracy protesters in