An Aboriginal group organized a seminar yesterday to remind President Chen Shui-bian (
The Association of Taiwan Indigenous People Policy (ATIPP) seminar yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of a treaty signed by Chen with Aboriginal groups.
On Sept. 10 last year, 11 Aboriginal representatives signed a treaty called "A New Partnership Between the Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Taiwan" with Chen. Chen was still a candidate running for the presidency at the time.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The treaty aims to promote the autonomy of indigenous peoples and retrocede the indigenous people's ownership of the land. The treaty also said an Aboriginal Congress, consisting solely of Aboriginal representatives, should be established to handle matters related to Aboriginal rights and autonomy.
Other Aboriginal rights, such as resources and land, are also mentioned in the treaty.
The treaty was submitted in July to the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the International Court by ATIPP with the support of 29 other Asian Aboriginal associations.
If the government fails to follow through on its responsibilities to Aborigines as spelled out in the treaty, the documents will be used as evidence in a lawsuit against the central government, according to the association.
"Although the document may not be accepted by the UN, as it is an informal treaty, we hope to pressure the government to make good on its promises," Isak Afo, head of ATIPP, told the Taipei Times.
Isak Afo said: "The `government for all the people' shouldn't ignore minority groups. Although the new government has bounced its `election checks' in social welfare, the new government has been in office for less than four months and we remain cautiously optimistic."
Isak Afo said autonomy would help Aborigines save their culture from disappearing.
The government's autonomy policy, however, has received little input from Aboriginal people, Afo said.
"Only the government directs the agenda relating to Aboriginal autonomy. The Aboriginal congress should be formed and responsible for the autonomy policy. Not the government," Isak Afo said.
"The public wrongly perceives the autonomy of Aborigines as a kind of reward from the ROC government. This greatly distorts the spirit of autonomy. The relationship between government and Aborigines should be nation to nation. This concept emphasizes our native sovereignty and the equality between government and indigenous peoples."
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS