Aboriginal rights activists slammed President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) over his Aboriginal policies at a forum yesterday and expressed concern about Aboriginal autonomy.
“I would describe Ma’s Aboriginal policy with the following words: ignorant, heartless, incapable and powerless,” Obay a Awai, an Saisiat autonomy activist, told a forum held by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Aboriginal policy under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
“[Ma’s government] is ignorant because it intentionally disregards the global trend for indigenous peoples to seek self-determination and autonomy; it’s heartless because the only focus of its Aboriginal policy is providing welfare to the poor; it’s incapable of initiating dialogues based on Aboriginal self-identity; and it’s powerless because it cannot bring anything new, and all its policies look good from the outside but are empty inside,” Obay said.
Other speakers agreed and expressed concerns over the future of Aboriginal autonomy — an objective that activists have fought for in recent decades.
“Eight years ago, former president Chen Shui-bian [陳水扁] signed a ‘new partnership treaty’ with Aborigines, declaring that Aborigines could enter into dialogue with the government on an equal footing and advocate Aboriginal autonomy,” said Upay Kanasaw, an Aboriginal health professor at Tzu Chi University.
However, it caused Upay serious concern that Ma’s government seemed to be deviating from this path. He said that during the presidential campaign, Ma promised to put into practice Aboriginal autonomy “on a trial basis.”
“I’m worried that the ‘trial’ — without legal basis — will become a permanent trial and eventually die away,” he said.
Busin Dali, director of the Taiwan Theological College and Seminary, said that he had lost all confidence in Ma’s Aboriginal policy and that “in his concept, Aborigines are merely minorities in the pan-Chinese family.”
Speakers also criticized the government for suspending an Aboriginal diplomacy plan.
The DPP administration tried to enhance relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region by establishing an Austronesian Forum, since Taiwanese Aborigines and Austronesian peoples share a common cultural heritage.
Icyang Parod, former minister of the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP), said the council last year listed a NT$15 million (US$467,000) budget for the Austronesian Forum, “but the CIP under the new minister listed nothing at all for it.”
As a result, he said, Taiwan has not paid rent on the Austronesian Forum headquarters in Palau for several months.
“The government is downgrading Aboriginal autonomy, it’s suspending international exchanges between Taiwanese Aborigines and indigenous peoples in other countries, and it’s trying to buy off Aborigines with welfare offers,” Obay said.
“Ma is working to cut off Aborigines’ opportunities to stand up on our own,” he said.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
RSS