President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday marked Indigenous Peoples’ Day by attending the National Administration Conference of Indigenous Peoples at National Taiwan University Hospital’s International Convention Center in Taipei.
The annual meeting, organized by the Council of Indigenous Peoples, focused on Aboriginal language development.
Tsai lauded the Aboriginal Language Development Act (原住民族語言發展法), which cleared the legislative floor on May 26 and went into effect on June 14.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Languages play a vital role in identity, Tsai said, adding that was why the government had pushed for the legislation, which lists all Aboriginal languages as national languages.
She expressed hope that the knowledge and languages of Aborigines would not be lost because of government prohibition, as was the case in the past.
Tsai said that her administration has fulfilled eight promises given to Aborigines on Aug. 1 last year: the language development act; the establishment of the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee; a review of efforts to implement the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法) and decisionmaking on the storage of nuclear waste on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼); the establishment of legal aid centers for Aborigines; recognition of the Pingpu people — communities who formerly resided on Taiwan’s western plains; a Cabinet report on the promotion of Aboriginal historical and transitional justice on Aug. 1 each year; and the demarcation of Aborigines’ traditional lands.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Tsai said that her administration “has heard many different opinions,” on historical and transitional justice, which shows that “we still have a long way to go.”
Several dozen campaigners protested outside the meeting, calling for complete recognition of Aboriginal traditional territories.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS