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Ethnic affairs chief
unwelcome: lawmakers
PERSONA NON GRATA: A committee said Lo Ying-shay
should be replaced after she refused to take questions on Aboriginal issues
despite being in charge of ethnic affairs
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter
Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs
Commission Minister Luo Ying-shay speaks during a question-and-answer session at
the legislature in Taipei yesterday. She was accused of arrogance for declining
to answer questions.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The legislature’s Internal Administration
Committee yesterday voted to put Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC)
Minister Lo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) on the committee’s “unwelcome” list and urged the
Executive Yuan to suspend her administrative duties in Aboriginal and Hakka
affairs.
The committee made the decisions after Lo, who doubles as a minister without
portfolio, engaged in verbal disputes with several members of the committee
because she insisted she was attending the committee meeting as MTAC minister
and refused to answer any question that was unrelated to Mongolian and Tibetan
issues.
The dispute began on May 8, when Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May
Chin (高金素梅), an Atayal Aborigine, asked Lo questions about Aboriginal autonomy.
In her capacity as a minister without portfolio, Lo is in charge of ethnic
affairs, including participating in the drafting of the Aboriginal autonomy
bill.
At the time, Lo refused to take the question, saying she was attending the
meeting as MTAC minister and exchanged angry words with Chin.
The fight continued yesterday.
“You just answered a question about the birth rate in Taiwan, which is not an
issue under the MTAC, but rather the Ministry of the Interior’s business,” Chin
said as soon as she took the podium, referring to a question that Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) had asked earlier.
“I was very upset and dissatisfied with your attitude last time.Someone from a
dominant ethnic group should never call someone from a disadvantaged group a
‘chauvinist’; this is not something that someone with a good education should
do,” Chin said.
Lo replied there were also birth rate issues among Mongolians and Tibetans
living in Taiwan, making the question the ministry’s responsibility.
“But Chi was asking about birth rate issues for the general public, not for
Mongolians or Tibetans living in Taiwan,” Chin said.
“Well, when Mongolians and Tibetans live in Taiwan, they are also members of the
general public,” Lo said.
Chin followed up with questions related to Aboriginal issues, to which Lo said
she did not have the answers or would not answer because the issues were not the
ministry’s business.
“If you don’t know, you should say you don’t know,” Chin said. “It’s ridiculous
that Premier Sean Chen would appoint someone who is so unfamiliar with
Aboriginal affairs to be in charge of Aboriginal issues.”
Chin then asked committee staffers to read out loud Article 25 of the Act on
Exercise of Legislative Power (立法院職權行使法), which stipulates that an official
questioned by a lawmaker in a legislative meeting “shall not refuse to answer
unless when it may pose an instant threat to diplomacy or national defense, or
when it involves information that shall be confidential according to the law.”
“I still cannot answer it, I’m here as MTAC minister, the question [on
Aboriginal autonomy] is unrelated to the MTAC’s business,” Lo said.
The answer triggered anger from other lawmakers.
“You are the MTAC minister, but you are also a minister without portfolio [in
charge of Aboriginal issues],” shouted KMT Legislator Jeng Tian-tsair (鄭天財), an
Amis Aborigine. “If you don’t want to take the question, you should quit this
job.”
“You don’t know anything about Aborigines,” shouted KMT Legislator Chien
Tung-ming (簡東明), a Paiwan Aborigine.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), who presided at the
meeting, sided with his colleagues and condemned Lo for refusing to take Chin’s
questions on Aboriginal issues.
The committee later adopted resolutions to place Lo on the committee’s unwelcome
list and recommended the Executive Yuan appoint another person take charge of
ethnic affairs.
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