Sunflower activists rally on three-year anniversary

By Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Chen Wei-ting, left, Lin Fei-fan, second left, and New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang, right, leaders of the 2014 Sunflower movement, attend an event marking the third anniversary of the movement in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should swiftly pass supervisory articles requiring transparency and civic participation in any negotiations with China, protesters said yesterday at a rally commemorating the three-year anniversary of the Sunflower movement.

The Sunflower movement refers to student-led protests that began on March 18, 2014, in which students occupied the legislative chamber for almost 23 days to protest a trade in services agreement with China and how it was handled by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.

More than 100 people gathered outside the Legislative Yuan for the commemoration.

“How many times have legislative committee meetings been held to review supervisory articles? Zero,” Restoration of Taiwan Social Justice convener Aman Wu (吳濬彥) said, leading the crowd in chanting “we want an answer” as to when the review would begin.

“The DPP has not been willing to put political capital behind the supervisory articles, but instead has been putting them on the back-burner,” said Taipei Society president Chiou Wen-tsong (邱文聰), who drafted the “civil society version” of the supervisory articles, the passage of which was a key demand of Sunflower activists.

Swift passage is crucial to create a framework before negotiations, he said.

“If we wait until China extends an olive branch, passage at that time will end up being read as a hostile gesture,” he said. “We have to make China give up unrealistic dreams and realize that unification will happen only on a democratic foundation.”

“The crucial issue is not whether the DPP would be willing to sell out, the issue is that they are likely to face enormous pressure from corporations and even the US,” Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said.

“I once hoped that the DPP would realize its promise and we should give them more time. However, giving the party more time has not seen a sincere effort made on their part, it has been a series of broken promises and excuses,” Lin wrote on Facebook, questioning the sincerity of KMT Legislator William Tseng’s (曾銘宗) decision to initiate a review at the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee next week.

New Power Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said his party would not support next week’s review, calling instead for cross-caucus negotiations to initiate a cross-committee review.

DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) said that the party has included the supervisory articles in a list of priority legislation for the current legislative session.

The DPP caucus version represents the party and responds to the public’s demands, he said.

Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho

Lawmakers call for measures to help migrant workers

IGNORED:Employment brokers are required to help in case a foreign worker falls seriously ill, but laws do not cover those who are fired from their jobs due to illness

By Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Apollo Chen, second left, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

Lawmakers yesterday said that the government must establish a mechanism to help migrant workers who have fallen seriously ill due to non-occupational diseases.

An Indonesian domestic caregiver named Shinta fell seriously ill after coming to Taiwan in 2014 and was paralyzed due to a disease in her spine, and has been hospitalized in Hsinchu since then, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) told a news conference.

Shinta’s employer covered her medical expenses for the first six months and bought plane tickets for her aunt to visit her in hospital, Chen said, adding: “However, as their own family needed care as well, the employer terminated Shinta’s job contract and hired another domestic caregiver.”

Shinta’s employer still visits her in hospital and her medical bills are “recorded to her account by the hospital,” Chen added.

According to the Employment Service Act (就業服務法), contracts signed between employers and employment brokers to hire foreigners in “marine fishing/netting work, household assistance and nursing work and work in national major construction projects or economic/social development needs” require that the brokers help the employers send back the workers if they fall seriously ill or transport their remains and personal belongings should they die.

However, Chen said the law does not regulate cases where migrant workers lose their jobs as a result of a serious illness.

Migrant workers sustaining job-related injuries are covered by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and the Civil Code, which also apply to domestic caregivers and would have their employers shoulder the costs, Ministry of Labor official Chen Chang-bang (陳昌邦) said.

The ministry has an emergency fund to pay up to NT$100,000 in case a worker falls critically ill due to a non-occupational disease, Chen Chang-bang said, adding that the ministry in October last year paid Shinta the maximum amount.

“Migrant workers are enrolled in the National Health Insurance [NHI] upon their arrival in Taiwan,” Chen Chang-bang said, adding that Shinta’s insurance would not be canceled as long as she holds a valid residency certificate, but “her medical costs have exceeded the NHI’s coverage.”

Cambodia-born KMT Legislator Lin Li-chan (林麗嬋) said that the government must initiate a cross-ministerial discussion and transform the short-term fund into a long-term plan for the care of migrant workers, as it is not merely a “one-time case,” but an issue that requires attention with the rising number of migrant workers in the nation.

There are more than 624,000 migrant workers in Taiwan, of whom 240,000 are domestic caregivers, according to the ministry.

Shinta’s residency certificate is to expire on Monday and National Immigration Agency official Lee Ming-fang (李明芳) said the ministry is helping her extend her permit by two months in accordance with the regulations, adding that the extension can be repeated.

Chen Chang-bang said migrant workers with non-occupational illnesses would have to shoulder the medical costs if not stated otherwise in their employment contract, and their employers could ask for assistance from local governments if the workers are not able to do so.

“The representative offices of migrant workers’ home nations could also be contacted for help,” he added.

He said bilateral talks will be held this year with four nations that regularly send workers to Taiwan — Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

“We will propose that they set up emergency funds or require migrant workers to enroll in insurance programs that cover critical illnesses,” Chen Chang-bang said.

‘Minority’ is desinicizing Taiwan: former minister

By Su Fang-ho and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

A “minority of people are pushing desinicization” in Taiwan, former minister of culture Hung Meng-chi (洪孟啟) said at Peking University’s Zhonghua Cultural Forum in November last year.

Hung, who served as culture minister under former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and became head of the Ministry of Culture-affiliated Cultural Taiwan Foundation after stepping down in May last year, said that “such acts will cause our children to be culturally rootless and lead to future Taiwanese being unable to write their own history.”

He also said Hong Kong’s Occupy Central protests were “stupid.”

Hung’s comments echoed those of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), who said at the forum that Taiwan’s desinicization was ignorant and turning its back on its ancestry.

Certain factions in Taiwan have attempted to promote desinicization to weaken and eventually break the continuation of the Zhonghua (Chinese) culture (中華文化) across the Taiwan Strait, Zhang said, adding that such acts would only harm Taiwanese.

There are those in Taiwan who think that Taiwanese culture is unique and not Zhonghua culture, but such thoughts are stupid, Hung was quoted as saying by the Chinese-language Chinese Review News.

The Zhonghua culture is like a great tree, and while the branches might have their own unique attributes, they are still part of the tree, he said.

Individuals espousing desinicization want to learn from Japanese culture, which has its roots in Chinese culture dating back to the Tang Dynasty, Hung said.

Desinicization would be equivalent to giving up their roots, and nothing can grow without roots, he said, adding that, in his mind, Taiwanese culture is certainly a part of the Zhonghua culture.

Professor publishes research of Martial Law-era writings

Professor publishes research of Martial Law-era writings

By Yang Yuan-ting and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

A National Taiwan Normal University professor has published the results of five years of research into Martial Law-era translations of international works whose authorship was wrongly attributed due to their origins in China, while some famous works contained political additions.

Sharon Lai (賴慈芸) said her book, The Office of Translation Detective Work (翻譯偵探事務所), restores the “true face” of 50 translated works whose authors were not recognized in Taiwan due to a prohibition of books from China at the time they were published.

Following the retreat of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to Taiwan in 1949 there was a shortage of academics capable of translating works from foreign languages into Chinese, Lai said, adding that publishers looked to China, where many translated works were readily available.

To get these works past censors, publishers often listed the writers under pseudonyms such as Wu Ming-shih (吳明實), a homophonic play on the Chinese expression for “anonymous” (無名氏).

“The translations were in such high demand that in 1953 the government changed the regulations allowing [books from China if the] names of authors and translators were altered,” Lai said.

The change in regulations resulted in a chaotic situation in which it became impossible to ascertain who translated what works, Lai said, adding that hundreds of academic articles from the period contain inaccuracies due to incorrect attribution.

It even became difficult to trace the origins of the original foreign-language works, Lai said.

Lai said she uncovered the identities of the translators by looking at the timeline of examples the writers provided, as well as writing styles.

“Every book provided some clues for me to work with,” Lai said.

In the process of her research Lai made numerous trips to libraries in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, where she pored over collections of modern translations. Her work uncovered 1,500 examples of recopied translations and 400 pseudonyms.

Lai said she also uncovered many examples of alterations or additions made to translations used in Taiwan, with political rhetoric injected into the text.

Lai cited a 1956 translation of the Greek collection Aesop’s Fables in which the tale of the donkey and the grasshopper contained the added lines: “The communists are like the grasshopper who tricks the donkey. Only those who are as foolish as the donkey will believe the communists.”

Similarly a rendition of the book Streams in the Desert (荒漠甘泉) contained the added line: “Forge ahead to recapture the rivers and mountains” of China.

Aborigines protest guidelines dividing traditional lands

By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

About 200 Aborigines yesterday held a demonstration on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei to support three campaigners staging a sit-in protest against recently announced guidelines on the delineation of traditional Aboriginal territories.

The demonstrators from the Indigenous Youth Front performed traditional songs and danced for more than an hour before dispersing.

The Council of Indigenous Peoples announced the guidelines on Feb. 14, but they were opposed by Aboriginal rights groups and lawmakers, as they stipulate that private land would not be recognized as traditional Aboriginal territories.

Aboriginal folk singers and rights campaigners Nabu Husungan Istanda and Panai Kusui and documentary filmmaker Mayaw Biho started a sit-in protest in front of the Presidential Office Building on Ketagalan Boulevard on Feb. 23.

“The guidelines exclude private lands and will cause traditional territories to become fragmented,” the front said. “The council says that this is a step forward from zero to 800,000 hectares [of traditional Aboriginal territories], but we can foresee various land development cases in villages that no longer need to respect local tribes and unable to hear the land weeping.”

The front said the three campaigners have been staging a sit-in for more than 10 days, so it is time for them, mostly university students, to show their support and show the government that many young people are also concerned about the issue.

They said that the integrity of the traditional territories can help Aboriginal communities learn traditional ecological knowledge and allow them to develop the most suitable culture and lifestyles for living in the area.

A member of the front, Mo’o, who is an undergraduate student at National Taiwan University, said the exclusion of private lands will harm the integrity of traditional Aboriginal territories, and Aborigines will not have the right to express their opinions in land development cases.

Aborigines demand rights to land

MAINTAINING PRESSURE:Activists who have been staging a ‘sleepout’ on Ketagalan Boulevard used the anniversary of 228 to call for transitional justice for all

By Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

From left, singers Nabu Husungan Istanda and Panai Kusui and documentary filmmaker Mayaw Biho yesterday take part in day six of an Aboriginal land rights protest on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei.

Photo: CNA

New regulations announced by the Council of Indigenous Peoples that exclude privately held land from being recognized as traditional Aboriginal territory perpetuate the injustices done to Aborigines for more than a century, Aboriginal rights advocates said yesterday in Taipei.

A group of protesters, who have been staging a “sleepout” on Ketagalan Boulevard down the street from the Presidential Office Building since Thursday last week, offered lilies to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the 228 Incident and called for the restoration of traditional Aboriginal territories and transitional justice for all Taiwanese, regardless of ethnicity.

Several of the protesters had planned to attend a commemoration ceremony at the 228 Peace Memorial Park to offer condolences to families of the victims of the 228 Massacre, but were prevented from entering the venue.

The council on Feb. 14 announced guidelines on the delineation of traditional Aboriginal territories that would restrict the application of the “traditional area” label to government-owned land, explicitly excluding private land.

The exclusion has sparked heated debate. A large amount of Aboriginal territory has been privatized and the exclusion would deprive Aborigines of the rights to participate in the development of traditional territories that were seized and privatized by the Japanese colonial and the Republic of China (ROC) governments, campaigners have said.

Much of the land owned by state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp and private hotel chains in eastern Taiwan was the hunting grounds of Amis communities for hundreds of years, and the new guidelines would only serve to legalize and entrench the misappropriation of Aboriginal land, said documentary filmmaker Mayaw Biho, an Amis and a former director of the state-run Taiwan Indigenous Television.

President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) apology for the historical oppression of Aborigines in August last year gave them hope, but the government has once again rejected Aborigines’ rights to their traditional territories, Mayaw said.

“Half a year has passed since the apology, but the ROC government has continued to ignore the plight of the Aborigines,” he said.

“The ROC government takes advantage of Aborigines when it wants to promote the image of Taiwan, but it never relents when it comes to sacrificing their interests,” said singer Nabu Husungan Istanda, who is a Bunun.

“Although it is absolutely correct that the government has sought to address the 228 Incident and the issue of transitional justice, the nation has yet to make an equal effort to redress the injustices done to Aborigines,” said singer-activist Panai Kusui, who is an Amis.

The guidelines are a political expedient agreed between Minister Without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森) and Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod, which override Aboriginal rights by using the Han Chinese concept of private ownership, said Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), one of the leaders of the Sunflower movement in 2014.

“Many Aborigines are willing to negotiate with the government about the conflict between private ownership [and the delineation of traditional areas], but I want to ask if the government is willing to offer such an opportunity,” Lin said.

228 Incident book launch disrupted by violent protest

By Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

Historian Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深) yesterday unveiled a new book on the 228 Incident ahead of today’s 228 Peace Memorial Day, but the media conference was disrupted by a violent protest.

Chen introduced his latest book, The Sky Is Still Dark: Truth, Commemoration and Responsibility of the 228 Incident (天猶未光：二二八事件的真相、紀念與究責), an anthology of his research on people’s experiences, and the legal and political ramifications of the massacre.

Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was primarily responsible for the massacre, Chen said, adding that declassified documents show that Chiang approved then-Taiwan governor Chen Yi’s (陳儀) request for military intervention to stem nationwide protests following the Incident.

In the aftermath of the massacre, members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed removing Chen Yi from office and subjecting him to punishment, but Chiang rejected the proposal and protected Chen Yi, Chen Yi-shen said.

“Chiang should be held responsible for ordering troops to repress protests, and failing to take remedial measures following the massacre and the ensuing ethnic conflict,” he said.

The book also discusses a group lawsuit filed by the author and Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and for 108 victims of the Incident and their relatives against the KMT, to seek compensation for mental and reputational damages, which was rejected by a court on technical grounds.

The chairman of the 228 Memorial Foundation, Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元), said the truth about the Incident has yet to be uncovered, adding that some victims are still unaccounted for.

“Because people have not agreed on who is responsible for the massacre, the [public understanding of] the Incident is still focused on ethnic conflict rather than large-scale state violence against civilians,” Hsueh said.

“The KMT has never paid any real compensation or made an apology for the Incident. All it did was use taxpayers’ money to comfort the victims and their relatives,” Koo said.

“It has to be re-examined so people can decide if the apologies of Republic of China presidents to the families of victims are sufficient,” Koo said.

The KMT’s ill-gotten assets, if confiscated, could be used to compensate victims and their relatives or to establish a memorial, but it would have to be authorized by a transitional justice act, Koo said.

Protesters disrupted the book launch and questioned the validity of Chen Yi-shen’s research, saying that the Incident was started by “violence inflicted on Mainlanders by ethnic Taiwanese” and what academics presented was “the Democratic Progressive Party’s [version of] the 228 Incident.”

Protesters said Chen Yi-shen skewed the research and downplayed the number of Mainlanders killed, and challenged Koo and former presidential adviser Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), who was also in attendance, over their political stance.

The ceremony was canceled after the protest erupted into a scuffle.

Peng departed without making a speech.

Chen Yi-shen said the protesters’ claims are not true, but some people support them because “society does not understand the basic facts of the 228 Incident.”

“President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should not delay her administration’s effort to further transitional justice because of radical elements,” Chen Yi-shen said.