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.
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan has signed six arms procurement offers from the US totaling more than NT$208 billion (US$6.59 billion) covering long-range precision strike systems, missile stockpile replenishment and joint production of large-caliber ammunition, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget has been stalled in the Legislative Yuan as opposition lawmakers question the amount and procurement items, while the Presidential Office and defense ministry say that the full amount is necessary to safeguard Taiwan. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Monday briefed the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on the defense budget for
RSS