The Atayal Tribal Council yesterday accused Aboriginal Legislator May Chin (
The proposed park would turn 53,000 hectares of forest in northern Taiwan -- where four Atayal villages are located -- into a national park.
The park proposal is a controversial issue among Aborigines.
Chin and others have demanded that the area be made into an Atayal autonomous region instead of a park.
However, some Aborigines are backing the park and have expressed a willingness to co-manage the park with the government.
"I want to hereby urge all Aborigines to take Chin's anti-Makao call with caution," Utux Lvak, secretary-general of the Atayal council told the Taipei Times yesterday.
"Some of her anti-Makao claims concerning the Atayal tribe are not true," Lvak said.
Lvak was referring to Chin's statement on Wednesday that all Atayal tribes, including the Smanguz village, which would fall inside the boundaries of the proposed park, are against the establishment of the park.
"What she said was not true, because Smanguz, among some others, did not say that it is against the establishment of a Makao park," said Lvak.
He said Chin's remark had seriously distorted the issue and given the general public a false impression.
"The council hopes that Chin would consult with the tribe's elders and tribal chiefs first before making public statements about the tribe that are not true," he added.
As for the demonstration that will be led by Chin today, Lvak said that he hopes other Aboriginal tribes would keep their distance from both the protest and the park issue itself because the decision on establishing the park concerns the Atayal alone.
Today's demonstration will be led by Chin and several other Aboriginal legislators, including independent Legislator Walis Pelin (瓦歷斯貝林) and PFP Legislator Lin Chun-te (林春德), both of whom are members of the Atayal tribe.
The protest was organized to publicize a call for all Aborigines to join together to demand the retrocession of Aboriginal land to the tribes and to protest the proposed Makao park. Therefore it was deliberately scheduled to take place the day after Retrocession Day.
"We sincerely hope all Aborigines would be cautious [of these legislators' call] as we don't want any untrue statements about us to create tension between the Atayal tribe and other Aboriginal tribes," Lvak said.
Organizers held a preview of the demonstration last night on the Ketagalan Boulevard, with speeches, traditional tribal dances and a vigil in the square in front of the Presidential Office Building.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
RSS