Aborigines yesterday supported Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka for her comments on the government not being involved in a ceremony dedicated to Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功) and called on members of the Cheng family to respect others’ historical views.
Cheng, also known as Koxinga, was a Ming Dynasty general who drove Dutch colonists out of Taiwan in 1662.
Kolas on Sunday said on Facebook that the government should not be involved in the ceremony to honor Cheng as such worship legitimizes “colonial thought and behavior.”
Photo: Tung Chen-kuo, Taipei Times
Cheng was, to Aborigines, no better than Columbus because he killed and pillaged the local population, Kolas said, adding that such practices should never again be repeated.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) canceled the practice of government officials attending the ceremony when she took office in 2016, turning the duties over to the Tainan City Government.
Kolas said in the post that she was speaking for herself and not for the government.
The Cheng family had protested Kolas’ comments as inappropriate and demanded her resignation.
The Central Taiwan Pingpu Indigenous Groups Youth Alliance yesterday held a news conference to support Kolas’ comments.
Alliance director-general Kaisanan Ahuan said the government should not take the lead in worshiping Cheng, who was a symbol of authoritarian power; that it should give Aborigines’ version of history due attention; and implement Aboriginal transitional justice.
The Cheng family’s protest is akin to rubbing salt in the wounds of the descendants of Cheng’s victims, Kaisanan said, adding that his people, the Taokas, were such victims.
Representative of the Papora people As Li-i Mali said it was well-documented in historian Lien Heng’s (連橫) The General History of Taiwan (台灣通史) that Cheng invaded and slaughtered the ancestors of the Pingpu, driving them off their land and into the mountains.
One incident almost wiped out the entire village of Shalu (沙轆) and there were only six survivors, As Li-i said.
Taiwan should be accepting of diverse opinions and all of its people should face up to history together, she added.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS