The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday announced that Taiwan had become a founding member of the New Zealand-initiated Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA).
The non-binding agreement — of which Canada and Australia are also members — aims to promote the economic empowerment of indigenous peoples in the Asia-Pacific region. Such initiatives not only recognize the interests of Taiwan’s original inhabitants, but also help differentiate Taiwan from China.
Little is heard outside of China about the majority of its 56 recognized minorities, while the Uighur and Tibetan peoples are recognized globally as victims of human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party.
Perhaps Taiwan’s indigenous communities face a less daunting situation than that faced by China’s minorities, but they nonetheless have various issues that need to be addressed.
Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod on Monday said that a lack of Internet access in many rural indigenous communities is a “real problem.” Only 51.6 percent of indigenous villages in mountainous areas have Internet access, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said.
Council official Du Jhang Mei-jhuang (杜張梅莊) last month said that 10,000 of the 260,000 hectares of land designated as Indigenous Reserved Land have been “lost” through fraudulent sales and deed transfers.
There have also been disagreements over commercial activity on indigenous land, and arrests in national parks of Truku and Bunun men for hunting, which is a traditional activity in their communities.
A feature article in the Taipei Times on March 10 highlighted the plight of migrant indigenous communities in New Taipei City’s Yingge (鶯歌) and Sansia (三峽) districts who are struggling for autonomy and fighting assimilation.
Giving indigenous people greater visibility and a bigger voice in society would allow issues to be resolved sooner and more favorably for indigenous communities.
For example, participation in national park offices by Truku, Bunun and other communities with hunting traditions could prevent unnecessary arrests. Greater participation in the education and economics ministries could help ensure that rural indigenous communities have their school funding and digital-infrastructure concerns addressed, and ensure that decisions on mining and other economic activities take the concerns of indigenous people into consideration.
One of the benefits of native populations being well integrated in places like New Zealand and Hawaii is that those places are very much in tune with the need for environmental sustainability, and both are places that emphasize social inclusion. Taiwan’s original inhabitants should also be more visible in the nation’s foreign affairs. In New Zealand, Maori culture features prominently in New Zealanders’ cuisine, curricula and politics. In Hawaii, the native language is often mixed with English in everyday speech, and its original culture is visible across its islands. Both places are well known internationally for their indigenous people and traditions.
Taiwan should take a cue from New Zealand and Hawaii and strongly embrace the languages, cultures and traditions of its indigenous communities. Doing so would benefit national consciousness and sustainability efforts, and would ensure that indigenous peoples’ interests are protected. More than that, it would clearly differentiate Taiwan from China.
IPETCA should be backed up by greater opportunities for indigenous peoples’ economic participation at home, and should be followed up by adding more indigenous voices to Taiwanese delegations at international events and organizations.
The first Donald Trump term was a boon for Taiwan. The administration regularized the arms sales process and enhanced bilateral ties. Taipei will not be so fortunate the second time around. Given recent events, Taiwan must proceed with the assumption that it cannot count on the United States to defend it — diplomatically or militarily — during the next four years. Early indications suggested otherwise. The nomination of Marco Rubio as US Secretary of State and the appointment of Mike Waltz as the national security advisor, both of whom have expressed full-throated support for Taiwan in the past, raised hopes that
Whether in terms of market commonality or resource similarity, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co is the biggest competitor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). The two companies have agreed to set up factories in the US and are also recipients of subsidies from the US CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by former US president Joe Biden. However, changes in the market competitiveness of the two companies clearly reveal the context behind TSMC’s investments in the US. As US semiconductor giant Intel Corp has faced continuous delays developing its advanced processes, the world’s two major wafer foundries, TSMC and
There is nothing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could do to stop the tsunami-like mass recall campaign. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) reportedly said the party does not exclude the option of conditionally proposing a no-confidence vote against the premier, which the party later denied. Did an “actuary” like Chu finally come around to thinking it should get tough with the ruling party? The KMT says the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is leading a minority government with only a 40 percent share of the vote. It has said that the DPP is out of touch with the electorate, has proposed a bloated
Authorities last week revoked the residency permit of a Chinese social media influencer surnamed Liu (劉), better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), who has more than 440,000 followers online and is living in Taiwan with a marriage-based residency permit, for her “reunification by force” comments. She was asked to leave the country in 10 days. The National Immigration Agency (NIA) on Tuesday last week announced the decision, citing the influencer’s several controversial public comments, including saying that “China does not need any other reason to reunify Taiwan with force” and “why is it [China] hesitant
RSS