Aboriginal rights activists slammed President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) over his Aboriginal policies at a forum yesterday and expressed concern about Aboriginal autonomy.
“I would describe Ma’s Aboriginal policy with the following words: ignorant, heartless, incapable and powerless,” Obay a Awai, an Saisiat autonomy activist, told a forum held by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Aboriginal policy under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
“[Ma’s government] is ignorant because it intentionally disregards the global trend for indigenous peoples to seek self-determination and autonomy; it’s heartless because the only focus of its Aboriginal policy is providing welfare to the poor; it’s incapable of initiating dialogues based on Aboriginal self-identity; and it’s powerless because it cannot bring anything new, and all its policies look good from the outside but are empty inside,” Obay said.
Other speakers agreed and expressed concerns over the future of Aboriginal autonomy — an objective that activists have fought for in recent decades.
“Eight years ago, former president Chen Shui-bian [陳水扁] signed a ‘new partnership treaty’ with Aborigines, declaring that Aborigines could enter into dialogue with the government on an equal footing and advocate Aboriginal autonomy,” said Upay Kanasaw, an Aboriginal health professor at Tzu Chi University.
However, it caused Upay serious concern that Ma’s government seemed to be deviating from this path. He said that during the presidential campaign, Ma promised to put into practice Aboriginal autonomy “on a trial basis.”
“I’m worried that the ‘trial’ — without legal basis — will become a permanent trial and eventually die away,” he said.
Busin Dali, director of the Taiwan Theological College and Seminary, said that he had lost all confidence in Ma’s Aboriginal policy and that “in his concept, Aborigines are merely minorities in the pan-Chinese family.”
Speakers also criticized the government for suspending an Aboriginal diplomacy plan.
The DPP administration tried to enhance relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region by establishing an Austronesian Forum, since Taiwanese Aborigines and Austronesian peoples share a common cultural heritage.
Icyang Parod, former minister of the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP), said the council last year listed a NT$15 million (US$467,000) budget for the Austronesian Forum, “but the CIP under the new minister listed nothing at all for it.”
As a result, he said, Taiwan has not paid rent on the Austronesian Forum headquarters in Palau for several months.
“The government is downgrading Aboriginal autonomy, it’s suspending international exchanges between Taiwanese Aborigines and indigenous peoples in other countries, and it’s trying to buy off Aborigines with welfare offers,” Obay said.
“Ma is working to cut off Aborigines’ opportunities to stand up on our own,” he said.
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