Aboriginal rights activists and politicians yesterday clashed with police as they tried to get into the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus office to deliver a petition voicing their opposition to the Executive Yuan’s draft Aboriginal autonomy bill.
“[KMT caucus whip] Lin Yi-shih (林益世) come out! Lin Yi-shih, come out!” dozens of Aborigines shouted as they protested outside the KMT’s caucus office.
They were eager to get into the office to deliver a petition to voice their opposition to the draft bill, which they consider a “fake autonomy bill” as it gives Aborigines neither a budgetary increase nor the right to land and natural resources.
Although the caucus office eventually allowed them in, no one was there to take their petition and several protestors with KMT membership threatened to withdraw from the party.
Things went more smoothly when they visited the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus office, as DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) received them and promised to stand with them on the autonomy issue.
Outside the Legislative Yuan, there were hundreds of other protestors.
“We are here to defend our rights,” former DPP legislator Payen Talu of the Atayal tribe told the crowd that represented all 14 officially recognized Aboriginal tribes in the country.
“What good would an autonomy bill do us if it will not give us the right to fully manage our own traditional domains and natural resources within — as the Aboriginal Basic Act [原住民族基本法] promises — and will not allow autonomous regions to receive budgets directly from the central government?” Payen said.
Payen and the demonstrators were upset because the Executive Yuan’s version of the draft bill keeps major decision-making powers in the hands of existing central and local government organizations, leaving mostly culture-related policy-making power to Aboriginal autonomous regions.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS