In a bid to safeguard the livelihood of Taiwan's Aborigines, Aboriginal legislators yesterday demanded that an amendment be made to the National Park Law before the proposed Makao National Park is established.
"I, along with several other Aboriginal legislators, oppose the establishment of the Makao National Park unless, first of all, the National Park Law is amended to guarantee that the lives, culture and rights of Aborigines will not be violated," said independent Aboriginal legislator Walis Pelin (
Pelin made the remarks yesterday at a forum that was called by the Legislative Yuan's Aboriginal Governing Committee to provide a floor for Aborigines' concerns.
Executive Yuan Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), Minister-Without-Portfolio Lin Sheng-feng (林盛豐) -- who is in charge of the Makao case -- and Chen Chien-nien (陳建年), chairman of the Council of Aboriginal Affairs, were also present at the forum to address the Aboriginal legislators' concerns.
The proposed park will cover 53,000 hectares of land and will incorporate four Aboriginal villages in the northern Taiwan counties of Taipei, Ilan, Taoyuan and Hsinchu. It will also boast Asia's only virgin cypress forest and rare ecological features dating back 2,000 years.
The DPP government promised that the new national park would be managed jointly by indigenous people and the central government. According to this plan, Aborigines would comprise half of the Makao National Park's administrative management team and two thirds of the park's policing team.
Several Aboriginal legislators, however, questioned how the idea could be implemented when the current National Park Law details no such stipulations.
"The government's word is not enough," said PFP Aboriginal Legislator Lin Chun-te (林春德) of the Atayal tribe. "In order to legally guarantee the rights of the Aborigines, we want the law to be amended to stipulate these specific details."
In addition, Pelin pointed out that the current National Park Law prohibits hunting and the harvesting of trees and plants within the national park's borders.
"If so, the area's Aborigines will not be able to carry on with their traditional hunting activities or their habits of harvesting plants for tribal medication and food," Pelin said.
"The livelihood of the area's Aborigines will definitely be disturbed and their culture will be smothered if the Makao National Park is established without first amending the National Parks Law -- to preserve and safeguard the lifestyle of the Aborigines."
Lin Shen-fang addressed the legislators' concerns by stressing that the preservation of the Aboriginal culture would be the core element of the Makao National Park.
"In this park we will place the preservation of the Aboriginal lifestyle above the ecological aspect," Lin said. "We will definitely make sure that satisfactory measures are taken to address the concerns of the Aboriginal legislators before the Makao National Park is established."
Lee also said reports that the park's opening has already been scheduled, are incorrect.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we