The Constitutional Court in Taipei on Friday deliberates on the constitutionality of Article 4, Paragraph 2 of the Status Act for Indigenous Peoples.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times

A legal provision that grants indigenous status to people with only one indigenous parent based strictly on their name has been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.

The court took aim at Article 4, Paragraph 2 of the Status Act for Indigenous Peoples (原住民身分法), which states: “Children of intermarriages between indigenous peoples and non-indigenous peoples taking the surname of the indigenous father or mother, or using the indigenous peoples traditional name shall acquire indigenous peoples status.”

The logo of the WTO on its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is pictured on June 2, 2020.
Photo: Reuters

The Hong Kong government has been working with China to block Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the WTO, the US Department of State said in a report published on Thursday.

Even as the Chinese government took new measures to erode democracy in Hong Kong, representatives of the territory acted on behalf of Beijing to advance its objectives in the international arena, the report said.

Taiwan and US flags are pictured on a table for a meeting between then-US representative Ed Royce and then-legislative speaker Su Jia-chyuan in Taipei on March 27, 2018.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters

Two hundred US lawmakers in a letter on Wednesday called for Taiwan’s participation in the planned Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), touting the nation’s economic importance and the signal of support it would send to counter Chinese intimidation.

The letter, drafted by the four cochairs of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus and addressed to US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪), said that Taiwan should be “at the front of the line” to join the framework.