Plains Aborigines, commonly known as Pingpu, would be officially recognized as an Aboriginal community and their rights would be legally protected, according to a draft bill passed by the Cabinet yesterday.
A proposed amendment to the Status Act For Indigenous Peoples (原住民身分法) would add plains Aborigines to the two existing categories of “mountain Aborigines” and “lowland Aborigines,” the Council of Indigenous Peoples said.
People whose ancestors were registered as shou fan (熟蕃, meaning assimilated) or “Pingpu” during the Japanese colonial period can be recognized as Pingpu, according to the proposal.
People would be able to seek Aboriginal recognition without changing their names, the council said.
“The terms ‘mountain Aborigines,’ ‘lowland Aborigines’ and ‘plains Aborigines’ all refer to Aborigines under the 10th constitutional amendment, just as the Indian, Inuit and Metis peoples are recognized by the Canadian constitution,” the council said.
Mountain and lowland Aborigines are geographical categorizations, as Aborigines have been recognized as either mountain or lowland peoples according to where they lived before the Republic of China government came to Taiwan, and people of the same community could be recognized as either mountain or lowland Aborigine.
Plains Aborigine is an anthropological grouping, with Kavalan people being the only plains Aborigines attaining state recognition, although they are mostly recognized as lowland Aborigines.
Since the 1990s, plains Aborigines, including the Ketagalan, Pazeh, Kaxabu, Makatao, Hoanya, Papora and Taokas, have launched campaigns calling for official recognition of Pingpu peoples.
Kavalan were officially recognized in 2012, and Siraya were recognized by the then-Tainan County as “county-recognized Aborigines” in 2005, but they have yet to attain state recognition.
“The amendment fulfills the name rectification objectives of plains Aborigines seeking official recognition for more than 20 years,” Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said.
The amendment is part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) Aboriginal reinstatement policy and is an endorsement of the self-identification principle of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Lin said.
Further legislation is needed to codify the rights of plains Aborigines, as the existing legal framework is oriented toward the mountain-lowland axis, the council said.
The amendment is to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for approval.
Separately, the Executive Yuan has proposed abolishing the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission and submitted the proposal to the legislature for approval.
The proposal is the first part of a planned Executive Yuan restructuring, and the duties of the commission are to be transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and the Mainland Affairs Council.
Six of the commission’s 49 employees would be transferred to the council, while others would be transferred to the two ministries.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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