The formation of the Hakka Forum (
National Taiwan University pro-fessor Huang Der-yeh (
"The forum aims to give the Hakka people a voice and to promote Hakka culture by bringing elite Hakka professionals together," Huang said.
The group is made up of about 100 Hakka professionals.
Huang said the groups' goals include advising on public policy, holding academic seminars on Hakka culture, providing national medical services for the Hakka people and offering job information for Hakka students at the university.
The forum's founding committee said the group will focus on national science and economic development issues and on the promotion of Hakka culture within Taiwanese society.
They said the forum would not support specific political parties or politicians.
Politicians, CEOs, professors, physicians, attorneys and artists of Hakka origin attended the ceremony. DPP legislator-elect Lo Wen-chia (
Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Lee said that Hakkas comprise a very important ethnic group in Taiwan.
"As a minority group, the Hakka were oppressed in the past by the authoritarian regime. However, the Hakka spirit never weakened," Lee said in the message.
Among the guests at the ceremony were Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Secretary-General Shu Chin-chiang (
There are some four million people of Hakka descent living in Taiwan.
The Cabinet-level Hakka Commission (
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