The Executive Yuan should consider an amendment to Article 7 of the Local Government Act (地方制度法) that would allow separate legislation pertaining to local governments on outlying islands, the Kinmen County Government said yesterday.
Kinmen would continue petitioning Taipei to uphold constitutional guarantees of outlying island residents’ basic rights, the county government said, referring to Article 10, Paragraph 11 of the Constitution, which states: “The State shall, in accordance with the will of the ethnic groups, safeguard the status and political participation of the Aborigines... The same protection and assistance shall be given to the people of the Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu areas.”
The county government said that its initiative comes in reaction to a separate draft amendment to the Local Government Act, proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Dec. 24 last year, which would exclude local governments on outlying islands from benefits other municipalities would enjoy.
Photo courtesy of the Kinmen County Government via CNA
Article 4 of the Local Government Act says that municipalities with 1.25 million inhabitants or more “and have special requirements in their political, economic, cultural and metropolitan developments may establish special municipalities.”
The DPP draft would change that to 1.25 million inhabitants or more “or” have special requirements.
The Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) is Taiwan’s only legislation for the welfare and interests of outlying island residents, making them more vulnerable than indigenous communities or Hakka people, the county government said, adding that it is drafting its own amendment to the Local Government Act, which would lay the foundation for an “Outlying Islands Basic Act.”
It would additionally petition the Cabinet to draw up a special law to guarantee and uphold the interests of residents on outlying islands, the county government said.
In drafting the amendment, the county government said it has sought input from the Penghu and Lienchiang county governments.
It is also planning to ask legislators representing outlying island constituencies, including Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Jessica Chen (陳玉珍) and Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生), and DPP Legislator Yang Yao (楊曜), to meet with commissioners of Lienchiang and Penghu counties to further discuss the issue, the Kinmen County Government said.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by