Standing amid a thunderstorm, dozens of Pingpu Aborigines yesterday gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei for the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples to protest against the government’s denial of their Aboriginal status.
“We are now standing on the land that was once the traditional domain of the Ketagalan — one of the Pingpu Aboriginal tribes,” Siraya Cultural Association spokeswoman Uma Talavan said. “The Republic of China (ROC) occupies our land, the Presidential Office stands on traditional Ketagalan land, but refuses to recognize us as Aborigines.”
“The government is pushing us into annihilation,” she added.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Talavan said in the past decade, the government has always said it would “look into the issue,” but thus far, no conclusion has been reached. Pingpu Aborigines comprise several Aboriginal tribes that once lived in the country’s flat areas.
While most of the Pingpu Aborigines have lost their cultures and languages, and adopted those of Han Chinese, some are intent on keeping their identity and are campaigning for the government to officially recognize them as Aborigines.
However, despite more than 20 years of efforts, they still have not been granted official status.
“A regime that does not respect the first inhabitants of the island is an illegitimate regime,” Presbyterian Church of Taiwan pastor Lee Hsiao-chung (李孝忠) said.
“Let’s take out our red cards, and show them to the ROC government, it’s time for us to tell it to get out of Taiwan,” he said, referring to the penalty given in soccer to kick a player out of the game.
Jason Pan (潘紀揚), a representative of the Pazeh Pingpu Aboriginal tribe, said that without Pingpu Aborigines, Taiwanese culture and history would be incomplete.
“We cannot allow the Pingpus to vanish. We are here because we want to tell the ROC government and the world that the Pingpu Aborigines are still here, alive and well,” Pan said.
Representatives of the demonstrators were received by a Presidential Office public relations officer, who listened to their petitions.
“We met with a new public relations officer surnamed Lee (李) and we think she’s better than the one we met before,” Talavan said after the meeting. “She listened more attentively, showed more interest and I felt she was more sincere.”
Talavan said Lee had said there was a discrepancy between the information provided by Pingpu groups and the Council of Indigenous Peoples and said she would research the issue herself.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
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
RSS