The law must be revised if the government wants to grant official recognition to Pingpu Aborigines campaigning for their rights, Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) Deputy Minister Lin Chiang-yi (林江義) said earlier this week.
Saying that the Aboriginal Identity Act (原住民身份法) stipulates that only Aborigines residing in mountain areas can be officially recognized as Aborigines, Lin said until the act is amended, the CIP must abide by the principle of the rule of law in dealing with the Pingpu people’s desire for official recognition as Aborigines.
Jason Pan (潘紀揚), president of the Taiwan Association for Rights Advancement of Pingpu Plain Aborigine Peoples, however, described Lin’s legal argument as “ineffectual and circular.”
“Article 2 leaves room open for further inclusion of groups after a survey has been done. The spirit of the law is inclusiveness, but it’s actually being used to exclude groups,” Pan said. “It’s become a politically discriminatory law that excludes the Pingpu people.”
He questioned the government’s interpretation of what an Aborigine “residing in a mountain area” is.
“By Lin’s standards, the Tao tribe and the Amis should not be recognized as Aborigines,” Pan said. “Close to 50 percent of the so-called “mountain Aborigines” now live in urban areas. Should they lose recognition status?”
The Tao live on Orchid Island, mostly in coastal areas, and the Amis, the most populous officially recognized Aboriginal group in Taiwan, live in the valleys and coastal areas of eastern Taiwan, Pan said.
Pan’s group said on Sunday that the UN special rapporteur on human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples has accepted its request to probe what the group calls the Taiwanese government’s refusal to grant the Pingpu official Aboriginal status.
Pan said the group received a message from UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya on May 6 saying its request would be given “close and careful consideration,” and that the UN could initiate communications with the Taiwanese government on the issue.
Asked about the CIP’s stance on the issue, Lin said the council has not yet received any information from the UN.
“If the UN rapporteur takes the initiative to contact us, we would be more than willing to communicate with him over the issue,” Lin said.
The CIP has subsequently issued a statement reiterating its respect for various Pingpu tribal groups’ appeals for official recognition of their status as Aborigines.
“The council will soon form a special task force to deal with the Pingpu affairs and will sincerely communicate with the relevant advocacy groups,” the statement said.
A Straits Exchange Foundation official today warned that yielding to political pressure in exchange for access to China’s entertainment industry rarely ends well, amid rumors that China is seeking to lure Taiwanese K-pop star Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜). Chou, more commonly known as Tzuyu, is the only Taiwanese member of the girl group Twice. Her contract with JYP Entertainment is set to expire at the end of this year, and there have been widespread reports that she would not renew it. She is reportedly planning to pursue solo activities under her parents’ agency, Yu Hai Entertainment (瑜海娛樂), although China has also reportedly offered
A tropical depression near Hainan that was once Typhoon Saudel may once again strengthen into a tropical storm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, but a sea warning for waters around Taiwan is unlikely. CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said that Saudel would return to being a weak tropical storm by late yesterday or early this morning. However, as the storm is to gradually weaken again and would head toward China’s Guangdong Province away from Taiwan, the chances that it would affect Taiwan enough for the CWA to issue a sea warning are relatively low,
Yielding to political pressure in exchange for access to China’s entertainment industry rarely ends well, a Straits Exchange Foundation official said yesterday amid rumors that China is seeking to lure Taiwanese K-pop star Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜). Chou, who goes by Tzuyu, is the only Taiwanese member of the girl group Twice. Her contract with JYP Entertainment is set to expire at the end of this year, and there have been widespread rumors that she would not renew it. She is reportedly planning to pursue a solo career under her parents’ agency, Yu Hai Entertainment, although China has also reportedly offered to help Tzuyu
China has revised its National Defense Mobilization Law to prepare for a rapid transition to wartime, with an official today saying the measures are aimed at helping Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) fulfill his “historic mission of national unification.” The revised version of the mobilization law is to take effect on Oct. 1, marking the first major revision since the law was enacted in 2010. The amendments define national defense mobilization as measures taken in response to threats to national sovereignty, unification, territorial integrity, security and development interests, including efforts to ensure rapid transition between peacetime and wartime and convert economic and
RSS