The Ketagalan of Taiwan Indigenous Culture Alliance yesterday accused government officials of overlooking the destruction of valuable artifacts used by Taiwanese Aborigines 4,500 years ago in order to construct access roads to the Lungmen nuclear power plant.
Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), paleontologists and descendants of Aborigines yesterday told a press conference that they found the Ministry of Economic Affairs' (MOEA) refusal to halt construction of the nuclear power plant’s access roads unacceptable.
The Lungmen nuclear power plant, also known as the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, is currently being constructed in Taipei County’s Gungliao Township (貢寮).
Lin Sheng-yi (林勝義), executive director of the alliance, held up a part of what is believed to be a crucible used by ancestors of the Pingpu Tribe (平埔族) that was found at the power plant construction site and said that carbon dating has shown it to be from the year 2440 BC.
“Scholars from the Academia Sinica and the National Science Council all denied its [the artifact's] value,” Lin said.
Lin wasn’t discouraged and sent a sample to the Beta Analytic Radio Carbon Dating Laboratory in Miami, Florida, which informed him that test results indicated that the sample was from 2440 BC.
“The adhesive used in these artifacts is proof that the articles are manmade, and not naturally occurring,” he said.
Taiwan Paleo-Civilization Research Center's Ho Hsien-jung (何顯榮) also recognized geometric characters that are believed to be early forms of writing found on rocks dug up from the area surrounding the nuclear power plant.
“These artifacts are like tape recordings that our ancestors left us,” Tien said. “Our ancestry comes not only from Emperor Qin Shi Huang, but many other different cultures as well. About a quarter of all Taiwanese have Pingpu blood in their veins.”
Their petitions to halt construction of certain areas near the plant have gone unanswered.
“[Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-hsiang 施顏祥] has vowed to halt construction if the location is indeed an archaeological site. We hope he will keep his word,” Tien said.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
RSS