ALL THE WAY:KMT New Taipei City Councilor Yang Chun-mei said President Tsai Ing-wen should apologize as well, or the nation’s Aborigines would ‘take to the streets’
Taipei Times
Date: Nov 19, 2016
By: Tseng Wei-chen, Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) yesterday bowed in apology in
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Yi-ying, left, yesterday bows in apology on the floor of the Legislative Yuan for using a pejorative term about Aborigines during a committee meeting on Wednesday. Photo: Liao Chen-Huei, Taipei Times
the Legislative Yuan for using a pejorative term about Aborigines on Wednesday, after an online apology and a statement failed to appease Aboriginal lawmakers and civic groups.
A proposal by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus to turn Chiu over to the legislature’s Discipline Committee was voted down by the DPP caucus yesterday, after which KMT lawmakers demanded an apology from Chiu.
Chiu walked to the center of the legislative chamber and bowed, saying “sorry” first to KMT lawmakers and then toward the audience mezzanine where reporters are seated.
KMT legislators Sufin Siluko (廖國棟), an Amis Aborigine, and Yosi Takun (孔文吉), a Sediq, and other Aboriginal lawmakers on Thursday criticized Chiu, saying her apologies were “insincere and unacceptable.”
During a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee on Wednesday, the KMT caucus asked to have Council of Agriculture officials report on the government’s plan to lift a ban on Japanese food imports from prefectures surrounding the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant meltdown, while DPP lawmakers said that a budget bill for the council should be given priority, leading to an argument between the two sides.
According to Sufin, Chiu said told KMT lawmakers: “There is no use talking to you huan-a[番仔, ‘uncivilized person’].” [FULL STORY]
