Pingpu Aboriginal activists yesterday demanded that the government immediately grant official recognition to Pingpu tribes, saying that their aim is not to take a share of already scarce state resources allotted to Aboriginal matters, but to be recognized as Aborigines.
“We Pingpu Aboriginal tribes have our own cultures and languages. There’s no reason for the Council of Indigenous Peoples to refuse to grant us official recognition as Aborigines,” Taiwan Association for Rights Advancement for Pingpu Plains Aboriginal Peoples chairman Jason Pan (潘紀揚) of the Pazeh people told a news conference at the legislature yesterday.
Pan said the council has previously expressed concern that if granted recognition, Pingpu Aborigines may take too many resources from the other officially recognized Aboriginal groups, but stressed that “this is not the point.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
“We don’t mean to take a share of the resources; we just want to be recognized for who we are,” he said.
Pan said that despite the council’s repeated promises to grant them official recognition, first made more than six years ago, nothing has been done so far.
Kaxabu Aborigine Pan Pao-feng (潘寶鳳) said the Kaxabu language is closely related to the language of the Saisiyat and the Atayal, which are both officially recognized Aboriginal communities.
“Linguistic studies show that the Kaxabus are part of the Austronesian family in Taiwan. It makes no sense that while Saisiyats and Atayals are recognized, we are not,” Pan Pao-feng said.
“The Kaxabu language has been classified by UNESCO as an endangered language; the language and culture may eventually become extinct without an official status,” Pan Pao-feng said.
The Pingpus are Aborigines who traditionally lived in the lowland areas of Taiwan.
Advocates say that their cultures and languages have been severely threatened through their close and frequent interaction with Han people, warning that many tribes having already lost their identities, while others, including the Siraya, Pazeh, Kaxabu and Ketagalan, are struggling to gain official status as Aborigines.
The council did not directly address the call for official recognition, but it issued a press statement defending the administrative practice to separate “Aborigines” and “Pingpus” as a historic one, since it has been in place since the Qing Dynasty.
It said that despite not granting Pingpus official recognition, the council has put a lot of effort into protecting and preserving their cultures and languages.
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
RSS