Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

President Ma disappears the PRC

J. Michael Cole 寇謐將

Based on recent comments by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), it would seem that the cross-strait “diplomatic truce” he initiated soon after coming to office either enfeebles the mind, or cannot be explained by anything other than contradictions.

During a roundtable on Monday, Ma was all wisdom when, channeling ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius (孟子), he said the best means by which two countries can get along was for the smaller country to be smart and flexible in dealing with the bigger one.

Relocation worse than Morakot, Aborigines claim

Taipei Times

The government’s reconstruction policy after Typhoon Morakot struck in August last year was a far bigger disaster than the natural calamity because it is leading to the extinction of Aborigines, Lituan Takilulu, convener of the Indigenous Peoples Action Coalition of Taiwan, said yesterday.

“Aborigines will never be able to return home. They are compelled to live in separate places. We are on our way to extinction,” Lituan said at a forum held by the Taiwan Association of University Professors on the eve of the first anniversary of Morakot.

Morakot survivors protest against government's policies

Taiwan News

The Indigenous Peoples Action Coalition of Taiwan (IPACT) held a rally last night on the Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office to pray for the souls of the dead a year after Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan, took some 700 Taiwanese lives and left thousands homeless.

President Ma Ying-jeou has come under heavy fire for his government's slow response after the monster typhoon slammed into Taiwan Aug. 7-9 last year, and triggered massive floodwaters and landslides that buried native peoples alive and isolated their villages in the south.

Pingpu activist calls for new, separate ministry

Taipei Times

Impatient with the Council of Indigenous Peoples’ (CIP) response to Pingpu Aborigines’ demand for recognition, activist Lin Sheng-yi (林勝義), a Pingpu from the Ketagalan tribe, yesterday urged the government to create a separate ministry to handle Pingpu affairs.

“I don’t know why is it so hard for the CIP to officially recognize the Pingpu as Aborigines,” Lin told a news conference in Taipei. “The Pingpu have been considered indigenous peoples by the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since 1994 and we’ve always been active in Aboriginal movements — why is it so hard to recognize us as Aborigines?”

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