More than 50 Aboriginal organizations representing both Pingpu Aborigines and recognized Aboriginal tribes issued a joint statement yesterday to condemn the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) for its “homeless beggar” remark about Pingpu people.
In a press release in response to a demonstration by Pingpu activists demanding recognition for all Pingpu Aborigines, the CIP told the Pingpu not to act like “the homeless beggar who kicked the clergy out of the temple” — a commonly used analogy to describe anyone who tries to get rid of a person who helped them in order to take his or her place.
The CIP said in a press release that the Pingpu chose assimilation into Han culture and society, that they never stood with other Aborigines, but that now they want to gain access to resources. It said that the Pingpu have disrespected other Aborigines by claiming themselves to be Aborigines without first asking the permission of other tribes.
The Aboriginal organizations and individuals who signed the joint statement yesterday criticized the CIP’s remarks, accusing it of trying to drive a wedge between Aborigines, and called on CIP Minister Chang Jen-hsiang (章仁香) to apologize.
The Pingpu are Aboriginal tribes that lived on the plains and who lost their culture to differing degrees because of interaction and intermarriage with Han immigrants from China. Most of the tribes also lost official Aboriginal recognition after World War II because they did not register their Aboriginal status with the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
“I would say that it’s the CIP that does not respect all 490,000 [officially recognized] Aborigines — because we never authorized the council to speak on our behalf,” Omi Wilang, an Atayal pastor from Fusing Township (復興), Taoyuan County, told a news conference yesterday at the release of the joint statement.
“I’ve always lived and worked among Aborigines, and I’ve never heard anyone voicing opposition to restoring Aboriginal status to the Pingpu,” Omi said. “I think it’s the CIP officials and some Aboriginal politicians who are worried that Pingpu may harm their political interests.”
Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒), dean of the College of Indigenous Studies at National Dong Hwa University, said the Pingpu did not choose to become assimilated into Han culture, but were forced to do so.
He said the Pingpu, who lived mostly on the western plains, were the first Aborigines to be affected by the arrival of European and Chinese settlers 400 years ago.
“If the Europeans and Chinese had landed on the east coast, it would be CIP officials from the Amis tribe, such as Chang, [CIP Deputy Minister] Mayaw Dongi, and [specialist] Sra Kacaw who would have to take to the streets to gain Aboriginal status today,” Shih said. “I would actually like to ask these officials if any of them have ‘stood with Aborigines’ or took part in the Aboriginal rights movement in the 1980s and 1990s?”
The activists called on Chang to apologize to the Pingpus, “otherwise we will take stronger action,” said Pan Chao-cheng (潘朝成), chairman of the Kavalan Development Association.
Although the CIP declined to comment, a secretary at the minister’s office surnamed Chung (鍾) said she didn’t understand what all +the controversy was about.
“The Pingpus are just not Aborigines,” she said.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
RSS